THIS IS EXCITING: Route 28 Construction Plan bypasses both bridges. (Pittsburgh: home, buying)

[Hopes]

Check out the renderings for the Route 28 improvement project.

ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/Districts/District11/Route%2028%20Improvements/route%2028%20presentation.pdf (broken link)

They are completely eliminating the lights for the 31st and 40th street bridges! Commuting will be a breeze!

It will be insane to discourage people from buying along 28 simply due to the construction. The end result will make this one of the easiest commutes in Pittsburgh.

[gg]

It already is pretty nice with the 31st St. bridge closed and that dumb pig hill road that dumps onto 28 that lets two cars go through. I cannot wait for that construction to be done.

For those who commute 28 now, I suggest you drive to Millvale and park and ride your bike in at the park. It takes about 6 minutes to get into the city that way on a flat bike path. Only about 10 people do it now, which is surprising, but I guess people just can't understand how easy the bike ride is.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It already is pretty nice with the 31st St. bridge closed and that dumb pig hill road that dumps onto 28 that lets two cars go through. I cannot wait for that construction to be done.

That is nice. It's also nice going south at the 40th street bridge with the temporary bypass.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

For those who commute 28 now, I suggest you drive to Millvale and park and ride your bike in at the park. It takes about 6 minutes to get into the city that way on a flat bike path. Only about 10 people do it now, which is surprising, but I guess people just can't understand how easy the bike ride is.

It is any easy bike ride. I've done it on the weekends.

It's an easy commute via car too. Even during this construction, I've been shooting right through with the exception of a couple days.

It's nice you commute via bike. Truely.

But the unpredictable weather is probably a factor in why most people don't commute.

Few people want to arrive to work soaking wet when it's raining or sweating like a pig when it's humid.

Plus, what are people who dress professionally supposed to do? Change at work? It's not like our suits won't get wrinkled carrying our clothes with us.

Biking for a commute isn't practical for most people.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That is nice. It's also nice going south at the 40th street bridge with the temporary bypass.


It is any easy bike ride. I've done it on the weekends.

It's an easy commute via car too. Even during this construction, I've been shooting right through with the exception of a couple days.

It's nice you commute via bike. Truely.

But the unpredictable weather is probably a factor in why most people don't commute. Few people want to arrive to work soaking wet.

Plus, what are people who dress professionally supposed to do? Change at work? It's not like our suits won't get wrinkled carrying our clothes with us.

Biking for a commute isn't practical for most people.

I don't commute via bike, because I work from home, but I am down there sometime and see the cars with bike racks and the commuters coming home there.

Planning is key if you are a bike commuter. If you need to wear a suit, which seems more rare these days, you would need to use dry cleaning in the city and have a wardrobe at work. If you are horribly out of shape, you might sweat on a <10 minute ride, so that would be a concern. I would commute on bike weather permitting, if I was commuting on 28.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Planning is key if you are a bike commuter. If you need to wear a suit, which seems more rare these days, you would need to use dry cleaning in the city and have a wardrobe at work.

Have a wardrobe at work? When you say wardrobe, think WOMEN for a moment. LOL

Most people who have private closets in their offices aren't even driving themselves to work.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

If you are horribly out of shape, you might sweat on a <10 minute ride, so that would be a concern.

I'm not out of shape. When it gets super humid, sweating occurs without even moving.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I would commute on bike weather permitting, if I was commuting on 28.

Weather permitting, I would too on occassion. But I would have to be certain that it wasn't going to rain at all.

[youngabe]

This is quite impressive. I can't wait to see the finished project in person. It seems like 28 will be "the" commute to have. I was commuting 28 inbound everyday, which was pretty smooth. I never took Route 28 outbound though...that always seemed rather unbearable.

I wonder what this will do for the development of the Route 28 corridor? For anyone wanting suburban living and city working, anything along 28 will be absolutely ideal.

[caroline2]

I drove downtown on 28 this morning during rush hour for the first time since moving (got on at exit 8), expecting it to be a disaster. I was completely stunned by how smooth the trip was, even with all the construction. It took me about 11 minutes to get into downtown (which is a mess, but that's the same whatever direction you're coming from).

Exciting is right. I had been thinking I'd never want to work downtown again because of our new location, but I was completely wrong.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by youngabe

I wonder what this will do for the development of the Route 28 corridor? For anyone wanting suburban living and city working, anything along 28 will be absolutely ideal.

I hope not too much! Then it wouldn't be the commute.

It will have a huge impact on development from Harmarville to Natrona Heights.

It won't change development dramatically for the Route 8 corridor.

It will increase but not like the boom that the Route 28 corridor will experience.

And West Deer will always be the most difficult township for a commute.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by caroline2

I drove downtown on 28 this morning during rush hour for the first time since moving (got on at exit 8), expecting it to be a disaster. I was completely stunned by how smooth the trip was, even with all the construction. It took me about 11 minutes to get into downtown (which is a mess, but that's the same whatever direction you're coming from).

Exciting is right. I had been thinking I'd never want to work downtown again because of our new location, but I was completely wrong.

It is exciting, isn't it?

Everyone was dreading the construction but those temporary bypasses are making a huge difference already. T

hose bypasses are making a huge difference already. Just imagine what it will be like when all lanes are functional.

[Drover]

Looks to me like the interchanges will still be light-controlled, which brings up concerns about whether traffic will back up down the ramp and still cause traffic flow problems in the bypass lanes. I'm not familiar enough with the traffic volume on 28 to know if this is a valid concern. If it is, I wonder if roundabouts wouldn't be a better solution for managing the traffic at the interchanges. In fact I wonder that regardless.