BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I was wondering as well, so I asked DPW and PennDOT; somewhat unusually, I got a response inside twenty minutes: https://twitter.com/PGHDPW/status/808336184413921280  

wow. Thanks. other than 311ing it every day, how do we get them to treat the sidewalk regularly as they do all other roads?

311 won't work for Ft. Pitt sidewalk.  They'll make you call some PennDOT # to complain. Who is the State Rep/Senator for the district that covers the Ft. Pitt sidewalk?  They'd probably be the go to person. And either the city councilperson or Peduto would be the one for the Ft. Duq bridge walkway.

Here is the PennDOT District 11 complaint form (we are District 11). It says it works "best" in IE 6 "and higher" so I don't know if it will work on a phone. In the past when I've had a problem with a misplaced sign, blocking the sidewalk say, filling out this complaint form has actually worked. Somebody goes out, checks out the sign, gets the contractor to fix it. The office phone for PennDOT district 11 is 412-781-3260. I suspect that if people call that when the Fort Pitt sidewalk isn't salted / plowed it will eventually result in the problem getting fixed.

I always figured Ft Pitt was state because it's 100% never been done in the 7 years I've bike commuted. Ft Duq. tends to be done intermittently.  

Also West End sidewalks have never been done and are also PennDOT. That leaves commuters from the west with exactly zero bridge options in the winter. That, more than anything else, is what makes me keep my parking spot at work.

Related: https://twitter.com/infinitebuffalo/status/808772199331037184 (Context: a complaint about glass on 40th SB...)

I 311ed that glass last week and never heard back...  I did it via the website.

Maybe this sidewalk on state roads issue is a Pgh peds/bike coordinator issue?

With my own hands, I have shoveled two bridges in the city (West End, 2003; Hot Metal, 2010), and cleared glass and swept two (Glenwood, 2013; West End, 2014). I really hope it will not be necessary for the citizenry to have to do this repeatedly if the public servants will not.

Just got a voicemail from PennDOT after I used the link that @jonawebb provided. Summary: we're sorry to hear you had an accident and hope you're OK. The City of Pittsburgh is in charge of the Ft Pitt sidewalk - not PennDOT. Thoughts? I've 311ed sidewalks on West End Bridge before and was sent to PennDOT.

https://twitter.com/PGHDPW/status/808336184413921280 So, how do we get the city dpw and penndot to fight it out and get someone to maintain the damn sidewalks on ft Pitt?

I emailed Pgh bike peds coordinator on that day describing the stiuation and posing tis question and have received no response.     If bike pgh has a meeting scheduled with city of pgh, can this be on the agenda?

I think you want to talk to the councilperson's office where the bridge is. Which is, district 1, Darlene Harris. Office: 412-255-2135 Office Fax: 412-255-2129 Website: http://pittsburghpa.gov/district1 Feedback Form: http://pittsburghpa.gov/district1/feedback They have people in the office whose job it is to straighten stuff like this out. Oops zooming in shows the bridge is split between District 1 and 6. Shit. Anyway here's district 6 contact info: R. Daniel Lavelle Office: 412-255-2134 Office Fax: 412-255-0737 Website: http://pittsburghpa.gov/district6 Feedback Form: http://pittsburghpa.gov/district6/feedback

Ft Pitt I think would be split between districts 6 (Lavelle, Western North Side & Hill Dist) and 2 (Kail-Smith, Southwest). Her website should be the same but with a 2 instead of the 6 at the end.