BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Yeah, this is super sketchy. I'm sketched out by the plywood on the sidewalk. I don't know if anything is actually under it in places.

Much like all of the rest the West Carson shit show, it's all on PennDOT. You can call them at 1-800-FIX-ROAD. Be prepared for a less than friendly response (see earlier threads about the West End Bridge and signs on the sidewalks for examples). Other than that, you can complain to your local state rep or reach out to Rich Fitzgerald's office (I've had some luck there). Where are you coming from? I may also be able to suggest alternate routes that are less scary.

I commute from Sq. Hill to McKees Rocks. I tried detouring through the West End (Steuben/Chartiers), but that adds the WE Circle, a bunch of hills, lights and another two miles. It's quicker -though somewhat unpleasant - to deal with the mess of a sidewalk on West Carson. The ride inbound to the city is a bit hairy, but kinda fun and a good workout trying to keep up with traffic.

@Dan: Howsabout coming through the North Side? Up California or trail->McClure, then Termon Ave Ext to the McKees Rocks Bridge.

If there isn't an adjacent property owner, the sidewalk belongs to whoever owns the road. which is....drumroll...PennDOT, as seems to be the answer just about any time we have questions about sidewalk maintenance around here... Good luck with this one... :-\

Well, since it's PennDOT, you can go here (with Internet Explorer) and complain. My experience has been, they will investigate, and do something about the problem.

If you don't feel like tangling with traffic on the McKees Rocks Bridge (which we tackled on the July Critical Mass ride not two weeks ago), the sidewalks are open on both sides. Ignore the "closed" signs thrown off in the bushes. They're fine. My preference would be: NSide trail, up to just short of the jail, jiggle over to Eckert, L McClure, L Antrim (brief, steep hill), R Fleming (long but pleasant climb), L Termon, continue to 65 intersection, cross, get on sidewalk. Exit to and back up from Helen St, continue to Island Ave, to wherever you're going. An alternative to Termon is to turn L at Davis, cross California, and use the steps at the end of the street. Avoids traffic and bricks.

And don't be too surprised if PennDot simply closes the sidewalk completely. Since this is an active work area I think they can do that, just like they can close the road. For everyone's safety of course. While this would suck for those that need to use it, it would make for a great 'can you believe this' story on the local news that might get PenDot to actually accommodate non-cars during the construction.

I've thought about the N Side option, but that adds almost 4 miles, a very long light at the bridge, and a big climb up to bridge level. My work is along Chartiers Creek, so it does require backtracking a bit. I'm managing so far with the help of a fairly tough bike with good tires, but not everyone has that or is willing to ride over broken plywood, 3 3 inches of sand a forest of Japanese Knotweed. I'd rather live with the fantasy that someone might care to do some simple maintenance. I'll contact the PennDot link and I just put in a 311 request as well.

Oh, I am so tempted to toodle over to Stanhope and Carson and have myself a nice little ride down to the West End Circle. I carefully avoided going that way for the CM ride. Seriously, though, how far upstream from the West End Bridge do you need to get to? And would a team of machete wranglers be of any value in whacking back the knotweed?

I do recommend the WC bobsled run if you want a good rush. Seems that 25 mph keeps you generally up with traffic for the 2+ mile stretch. I know that's not a time trial for many, but with my heavy frame (both bike and rider) it's a rush. I work in the Rocks near the Shopping Plaza, so I need to cover the entire distance of West Carson. I suppose I could do the machete idea. Would be a small challenge to get the clippings out of there, but could be done. Maybe a rack mounted machete? Probably would get lots of passing room from cars that way.

Knotweed is miserable to cut. You'd do better to yank it. I've been waging war on various knotweed infestations for a couple of years, and haven't come up with a good way to deal with it yet. If you're that far up, I do recommend the MR Bridge sidewalk idea, exit at Helen St, and come down River Avenue. Two miles of glass and knotweed and broken plywood? I deal with about 100 yards of knotweed and jump a stream on my way in, and that sounds preferable.

@stu, on the knotweed, they're working on it. There's a psyllid, a small hopping insect called "plant lice", that is native to Japan, which lives on the stuff. It's been studied here to see if it can live on other plants, and there's an open application to USDA-APHIS to release it. So I'd guess it'll get knocked back in a year or two. See http://tinyurl.com/nd8zfsy.

Okay, crazy as this sounds, sometime earlier today someone went through and cleared all the weeds and much of the sand off the West End (worst section) of the sidewalk. Sidewalk remains in dismal condition, but it's certainly better and this was no small task. That's less than 24 hours from 311 submittal to at least some action. Kudos to 311. Who knows, maybe they'll toss down a few fresh sheets of plywood to cover the potholes.