More proof that I-376 lacks sufficient lane miles for a major metropolitan area (Pittsburgh: house, cost)
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Has anyone noticed that there isn't a single damned sign that says "Parkway East" or "Parkway West" but that is what everybody here calls I-376?
Rick Santorum and Melissa Hart got a bill passed through Congress so as to name the entire road I-376 so it wasn't known as I-376, I-279, 22-30, and 60. It makes sense to me, but not to the anti-car bunch.
The entire stretch of I-376 between I-79 and the Squirrel Hill Tunnel was obsolete when it was on the drawing board. It was obsolete when it was opened. It is obsolete now and things ain't changing.
I-376 will not get widened from Greentree Hill and through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Bridge. There is neither the money nor the political will to do it. If there were a plan than I would bet my last dollar that Penn's Future or some other anti-road bunch would have a hissy fit.
Do I sound like I hate the city? NO! I do not live in the city limits. I live 14 miles away in South Fayette. I work Downtown and take a PAT bus via the West Busway nearly every day. I bring my family into town often to go to Mass or to shop or to eat out or to enjoy a park - something I would NOT do if I lived near Cleveland or Baltimore.
Wanna talk about public transportation problems? The West Busway was supposed to use the Wabash Tunnel and span the Mon River. It would have pulled countless buses off of the Fort Pitt Bridge. Pittsburgh politicians whined and complained about it and the bridge was never built, and probably won't be built. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why not make it easier for people to get into the city?
I could go on. Robinson Township made it hard for PAT to find a place to put in a Park & Ride. I seem to remember Monroeville being difficult about extending the East Busway there. I already mentioned Pittsburgh's opposition to the Mon River bridge.
Light rail is a folly. It is expensive to build and to operate and rarely carries the amount of riders projected.
I would like to see commuter rail here but I doubt if there are enough people working in Pittsburgh to make it worthwile. God knows we have the train tracks to make it work.
I took public transportation when i worked in DC. I used the MARC train and the Metro. 20 years ago it was $100 a month and I hate to think of what it costs now. DC is a clusterbomb to try to drive around at anytime of the day or night and one of the best things I ever did was to leave there.
I read the posts from people whining about public transportation funding. PAT should be gutted. The buses are filthy dirty inside. They are always whining for more subsidies and PAT management gives away the farm to the union. BS. Corbett is right in not increasing their funding. Popular routes such as the East Busway and the West Busway should be privatized and routes through poor neighborhoods should be contracted out to private operators with poor people given vouchers to ride the buses.
I support...
-Widening the Squirrel Hill Tunnels - It will get traffic out of town faster and there will be less cars idling.
-Building the Mon River Bridge to connect the Wabash Tunnel to Stanwix Street and completing the West Busway.
- Extending the East Busway to Monroeville.
- Turning Route 28 into an Interstate highway (I-72?) from its interchange at the Turnpike through Downtown, following I-376 to Robinson, and then following US 22 to Steubenville. Heck, Ohio could then use their Turnpike Commission to build a connector to I-70, allowing for a faster all Interstate connection to Columbus and points west.
- Finishing the Mon-Fayette Expressway to I-376. Dim bulbs see it was a driveway out of Pittsburgh. Duh, one can leave Pittsburgh now as it is. The Squirrel Hill Tunnels need a bypass and Route 51 in the South Hills is inadequate.
-Replacing PAT management with a private company and privatizing routes as they see fit.
Oh, and a few words about "trucks and SUVs". The "progessives" are not in favor of choice when it comes to a consumer buying a vehicle, are they? I have a Ford Explorer that has never let me down in a dozen years of ownership. I had two VWs that were garbage. My Explorer has a 6 cylinder engine, but, no matter, Big Education and Big Media has labeled them all "gas guzzlers", which is a joke considering the size of station wagons in the 1970s. Drive your damn Smart. I don't care. Just don't pass judgment on me.
Turning Route 28 into an Interstate highway (I-72?) from its interchange at the Turnpike through Downtown, following I-376 to Robinson, and then following US 22 to Steubenville. Heck, Ohio could then use their Turnpike Commission to build a connector to I-70, allowing for a faster all Interstate connection to Columbus and points west.
Why not extend this so-called interstate highway to I-80? That way, those coming to the Pittsburgh area from State College or points east have a quicker means to get to Pittsburgh. Rather than stop at the Turnpike, they could extend this designation up to Kittanning and continue onto I-80. I also agree with the Ohio connector to I-70. The only major things would be how to connect I-376 to Route 22 in Robinson because currently you have to get off of I-376 and onto Route 22/Campbell's Run Road. Another issue is in Pittsburgh itself, which is how will the so-called interstate go through the Downtown area? Will is utilize the North Shore Expressway to the Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt bridges or will it use a completely different route?
The only major things would be how to connect I-376 to Route 22 in Robinson because currently you have to get off of I-376 and onto Route 22/Campbell's Run Road.
You haven't needed to do that in a while, although there may still be one traffic light at the ramp. I think you might be able (in theory) to go westbound on 22 without stopping, though, as long as some idiot doesn't up and stop there because they can't merge.
I'm all for connecting Route 28 (I-72 in my imagination) to I-80. The problems are money, politics and enviornmental impact statements.
There presently exists an exit ramp from I-376 to Route 22 West.
It's this simple, really. I-72 would begin at the Allegheny Valley Interchange. I-72 would supplant Route 28 from there to Downtown, following the existing ramp to I-279. I-72 would then follow I-279 across the Fort Duquesne Bridge, and follow I-376 from the Fort Pitt Bridge to the Route 22 - Weirton exit. Most of Route 22 (through western Allegheny County, Washington County and into WV is built to Interstate standards.
It should not be hard for Ohio to extend the present Route 22 expressway from Steubenville (which is marketing itself as a part of Greater Pittsburgh)
to I-70 southwest of Steubenville.
It should not be hard for Ohio to extend the present Route 22 expressway from Steubenville (which is marketing itself as a part of Greater Pittsburgh)
to I-70 southwest of Steubenville.
Most of 22 is already a 4-lane expressway. There may only be 20-some miles in Harrison County that aren't.
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
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Rick Santorum and Melissa Hart got a bill passed through Congress so as to name the entire road I-376 so it wasn't known as I-376, I-279, 22-30, and 60. It makes sense to me, but not to the anti-car bunch.
Yeah, but when you consider that there's about 40 miles of it north of Pittsburgh International that runs north/south, with virtually no east/west component to it at all, it feels sort of silly.
Yeah, but when you consider that there's about 40 miles of it north of Pittsburgh International that runs north/south, with virtually no east/west component to it at all, it feels sort of silly.
You gotta make it directional somehow, and the main part of I-376 is east-west. It's like making a loop Interstates directional. And then there's I-26 in Tennessee and North Carolina...
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
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You gotta make it directional somehow,
It was. It was called 60, North or South.
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...and the main part of I-376 is east-west.
The predominantly east/west part is a lot shorter than the predominantly north/south part.
They could've co-named it 376 out to the airport, and left the 60 designation intact for the rest of it. It is, after all still 22/30 for much of its length too. I could see some sense in that.
It's not worth wasting much discussion on, but what I said at the time was that it's not like anybody interested in doing business in Beaver or Lawrence Counties, or points north, didn't know the highway was there, regardless of its name.
I still think it was silly.
On edit: There's something profound in realizing that my thousandth post on C-D Forums contains the words, "It's not worth wasting much discussion on..."
Last edited by ditchdigger; 07-13-2011 at 06:16 AM..
What's silly is having five different numbers and three different highway systems for one alignment. Having the whole alignment designated I-376 alleviates confusion, and does, believe it or not, promote economic development. Businesses like being located near Interstate highways. It makes perfect sense to me.
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