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Old 10-03-2011, 09:05 AM
 
Location: South Oakland, Pittsburgh, PA
875 posts, read 1,493,914 times
Reputation: 286

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Eliza Furnace Trail Bridge over Bates Street reopens at noon today.

For those who have been curious about the mess down at Bates and Second Avenue the last several months.

Apparently, this project was done as "preparation work" for the planned Mon-Fayette Expressway (MFE). The old trail bridge was fine for bicycles, it simply had too low of clearance to allow the largest trucks and buses passage on Bates Street (increased clearance from 11'6" to 14'). So before anyone begins a tirade about spending on bike infrastructure, this project was done basically for trucks, not bikes.

Fingers crossed that the MFE dies a slow painful death...
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Old 10-03-2011, 09:16 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,095,533 times
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I'm also rooting against the MFE, but I've actually seen vehicles that were stuck in that underpass due to the low clearance, so that seems like a reasonable project even without the MFE.
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Old 10-03-2011, 11:54 AM
 
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I worked over at SouthSide works for six months a few years ago and a truck getting stuck in that underpass seemed like a weekly occurrence.
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Old 10-03-2011, 12:01 PM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,905,225 times
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Where is the MFE supposed to run to? I had no idea oakland was involved in it?
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Old 10-03-2011, 01:16 PM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,095,533 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
Where is the MFE supposed to run to? I had no idea oakland was involved in it?
They looked at some different routes, but I believe this is what they settled on:

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Old 10-03-2011, 03:32 PM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 26,088,082 times
Reputation: 17378
I attended. It wasn't a very big turnout, like the ribbon cutting in Millvale, but it was still okay. Good media. The bridge is nice. It is now a little hill because the bridge is higher. Cyclists in places like NYC probably would consider it a hill. Anyway, it is nice it is completed and I hope the cycling/walking/commuting trails keep going. It is the future for those of us that aren't so fat they have to drive SUV's, because they can't fit in a car. Would have been nicer if it wasn't raining though. That was a bit of a drag.
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Old 10-04-2011, 09:15 AM
 
Location: O'Hara Twp.
4,359 posts, read 7,557,461 times
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Having run the NYC Marathon the bridges there are brutal compared ot the new one on the Jail Trail.
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Old 10-04-2011, 11:24 AM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 26,088,082 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robrobrob View Post
Having run the NYC Marathon the bridges there are brutal compared ot the new one on the Jail Trail.
Yeah, but my point was people in NYC consider a hill going up a bride a hill. In Pittsburgh it is nothing. We have real hills. Real cyclists live here.
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Old 10-06-2011, 12:37 AM
 
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
2,458 posts, read 4,215,344 times
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Quote:
So before anyone begins a tirade about spending on bike infrastructure, this project was done basically for trucks, not bikes.
I'm confused. How come trucks need a bike trail?


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Old 10-06-2011, 11:49 PM
 
Location: South Oakland, Pittsburgh, PA
875 posts, read 1,493,914 times
Reputation: 286
Quote:
Originally Posted by ditchdigger View Post
I'm confused. How come trucks need a bike trail?


Well, in a nutshell, full-size tractor trailer trucks were too tall to fit under the old B&O railroad bridge (converted to rail-trail in the 90's) over Bates Street. About once a month, a truck would get stuck under the bridge and hold up traffic.

I mean, one could say that PennDOT could have just demolished the bridge and left cyclists to fend for themselves, however, there might be a stipulations somewhere that existing bicycle infrastructure must be preserved or rerouted in cases such as this.
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