Schenley Park Road "Improvements" (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: maintenance, gardens, transportation)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Yes, because food delivery is the the only thing that matters. Who cares about crumbing infrastructure when people need cheesy bread sticks?

People employed at those businesses don't matter? It wouldn't matter if East Enders' reactions to receiving their cheesy bread in 75 minutes due to traffic vs. 35 minutes wasn't to stiff their delivery drivers.

[mjost7]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Just drove through the area in question a few hours ago. The city was installing the barrier between the bike lane and the parking lane. It's starting to really shape up! I still think that new 3-way stop sign is a disaster, though, as now everyone is OVERLY-cautious there. I'd really, really, REALLY love a roundabout there!

I understand a roundabout has been proposed at the intersection of Schenley Drive and PHR several times in the past 20 or more years in various master plans.

I understand both the Pittsburgh Grand Prix and CMU buggy race run through there so any roundabout design would have to allow for those, possibly by using a removable or painted center island.

The NCHRP 672 recommends a 90 to 180 ft inscribed circle diameter (that is the outside circle not the center island) for a one-lane roundabout. A quick look on google earth shows one would fit and we might be able to use a smaller design vehicle than say the usual large semi-trailer.

[BobMcKelvin]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Ok. The city is broke and won't raise taxes to do anything that needs to be done. Got it. In the interim what is the city's plan to mitigate the impending traffic disaster when the Greenfield Bridge is imploded and when I-376 is closed in both directions beneath it? I'm not trying to be a smarty pants. I literally just can't find anything online that the city is stating it's planning to do to mitigate the inconvenience when that occurs. This past weekend I found myself banging my head off the steering wheel with everything occurring simultaneously---Squirrel Hill Tunnel closure; Walnut Street yuppie arts festival; Little Italy Days; Pedal Pittsburgh; CMU "We're Special" festival on South Craig Street; etc., and yet the city did nothing to mitigate the gridlock for those of us who actually have jobs.

The city has already chosen a mitigation plan to alleviate the gridlock for those of us that actually have jobs. They are bringing it down during the week of the year where traffic volumes are the lightest and those of us that actually have jobs are less likely to be using the highway to commute to said jobs due to the holiday.

Regarding your gripes about city taxes, you do realize that even if the city were to magically come up with all of the funds it needs to fix all of the infrastructure issues people complain about, they still would not have a magic wand to wave over the city and make everything new. The construction process would still have to occur, and with it detours, congestion, and delays. More money in the coffers would mean more misery for people like you who hate the crumbling infrastructure and also hate any attempts to fix it. Act 89 is a reality, watch as the money flows in over the next couple of years and the detours and delays continue to pile up.

[szug-bot]

Mjost (his comment two above), the roundabout idea is dead in the water.

Bob (above), I would not call that a "plan". Yes, they are going to destroy the bridge i think on Dec 26 of 2015. HOwever, it will take a year or more to build the new one. The area is best suited for 1970s capacity. It will be overburdened and a mess. I can't imagine how tough it will be for everyone - greenfielders, squirrel hillians, and everyone on the other side of the tunnel.

I'd love to see a millionaire sponsor a fleet of five buses with two daily trips - inbound in the AM, and outbound in the PM to carry a good 200 or so people. No, people would be not have flexible schedules, but its temporary, of course. That could be 200 cars off the road.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

I'd love to see a millionaire sponsor a fleet of five buses with two daily trips - inbound in the AM, and outbound in the PM to carry a good 200 or so people. No, people would be not have flexible schedules, but its temporary, of course. That could be 200 cars off the road.

The 61c/d route goes on that route. It covers other ground besides connecting Greenfield and the southern parts of Squirrel Hill to Oakland, but that is certainly a large part of it's crowd. 200 riders a day is just a blip in its ridership.

[szug-bot]

yes, of course - i meant in addition to normal bus routes, a special fleet of shuttles to cart around people who'd normally drive.

[captainmidnight]

I went by Phipps and that new intersection layout with Schenley Drive and Panther Hollow feels awkward. Going to take some time to get used to, but that would be a good example of a conversion to a roundabout.

[fleetiebelle]

Driving through it everyday, I think planners needed to reconfigure the crosswalk situation. There's only one near the visitor's center, and the sight lines from the new setup make it hard to see a pedestrian or cyclist if you're making a left turn from Schenley Drive onto Panther Hollow Rd. There should be crosswalks on each of the streets feeding into that intersection.

[norcider]

On this again this week. I used to drive it daily for many years until I changed jobs. I feel that the changes are for the better because that corridor in front of Phipps was a speedway for people going to the Boulevard and the intersection at the visitor center was too confusing for people not familiar with it. The additional bike lane forces people to slow doen and the additional stop sign was about time.

[theta_sigma]

I still can't figure out where that bike lane actually goes, though. Who is the target demographic for that?