Next HUGE transportation project (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: tax, bill, rail)

[PIT2MAD]

The Montour basically runs as an arc so no hope in seeing a connection there besides the aforementioned Clairton and future Ohio River Trail connection near Coraopolis.

As far as a direct connection to an "interior" part of the Montour, the Panhandle is the most logical via Carnegie and the proposed Chartiers Greenway along the creek to McKees Rocks, where it would somehow connect to the Ohio River Trail. Still a long way off, but we are still at the beginning of this revolution...its been amazing what the Montour Trail Council has done, since long before it was the "in" thing to do.

Despite the lack of connections, any urban rider on here who regularly posts about cycling issues but hasn't taken the time to drive out to the sticks and ride through the tunnels at Enlow Cecil and Peters or across the viaducts in McDonald and Library and Peters or has had to dodge rabbits and deer on the lesser used sections in Robinson Township...what are you waiting for?! Now is the perfect time.

[Goinback2011]

What was the reason given for doing the T project to the north shore rather than some other destination?

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by PIT2MAD

Despite the lack of connections, any urban rider on here who regularly posts about cycling issues but hasn't taken the time to drive out to the sticks and ride through the tunnels at Enlow Cecil and Peters or across the viaducts in McDonald and Library and Peters or has had to dodge rabbits and deer on the lesser used sections in Robinson Township...what are you waiting for?! Now is the perfect time.

I'm waiting for better connections from the city . I do have a trunk rack for our bikes, but much of the appeal of biking is lost for me once I have to add a car to the equation. My wife does prefer to start right on the trail though, especially since that usually means we avoid any huge hills.

I haven't rode on either of these trails. Do you have any suggestions on where to park with easy trail access for maybe a 10-20 mile round trip ride that would be worth the special trip?

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

What was the reason given for doing the T project to the north shore rather than some other destination?

The Stillers n'at.

If I remember right, I think it was partially sold as having the potential to connect to the airport with a future expansion.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by ferraris

The Stillers n'at.

If I remember right, I think it was partially sold as having the potential to connect to the airport with a future expansion.

Originally the T expansion was to head further up through the residential neighborhoods, including a station at Federal and North.

The County politicians (R's at the time) redirected the route to better serve their constituents as a means to get to the North Shore entertainment district and specifically Heinz Field.

[steelers1523]

Originally Posted by speagles84

//www.city-data.com/top2/h32.html

Pittsburgh is top ten for light rail per capita. That's what that says. there are a lot of cities where more people use transit than Pittsburgh.

[PIT2MAD]

Originally Posted by ferraris

I'm waiting for better connections from the city . I do have a trunk rack for our bikes, but much of the appeal of biking is lost for me once I have to add a car to the equation. My wife does prefer to start right on the trail though, especially since that usually means we avoid any huge hills.

I haven't rode on either of these trails. Do you have any suggestions on where to park with easy trail access for maybe a 10-20 mile round trip ride that would be worth the special trip?

I would recommend parking at Cecil Park, it's right along route 50, 6-7 miles from the Bridgeville exit for 79. The rail runs along a hillside behind the park and can be accessed via a relatively easy climb on the connector in the back of the park. From here you could ride east and pass through one of the tunnels and take in the view from one of the rehabbed trestles that leads directly to another tunnel between Hendersonville and Peters. This trestle/bridge combo is my favorite part of the trail as you can actually look down and see an active rail line that goes over a lower bridge and passes through a tunnel in the same hillside. On the other side of these tunnels the trail passes over the active line on yet another rehabbed bridge (not as high on that side).

(Edit: this trestle/bridge holds a special place in my heart as before the trail was put in a couple of years ago it was one of the best rights-of-passage places for local teens. We knew it simply as Hell. I remember gingerly crossing that old trestle before it was rehabbed (stupid!) and exploring the tunnel. Local lore said some kids died falling off the bridge and haunted the area. The tunnels also provide quite the spectacle in winter thanks to the crazy icicles that form)

Adjacent to the new bridge at Morganza (about 1.5 miles before the bridge/tunnel there's a bike shop with ice cream (not sure if ice cream is year round). From the park to the bike shop is 4 miles. Beyond this you could continue into Peters via the new Valley Brook bridges, or you could backtrack and pass Cecil Park and cross the new bridge over 50-980. About 1.5-2 miles west of the park you hit the junction for the Westland Branch, and the section of Montour through the village of Southview runs immediately adjacent to an active line and crosses under yet another impressive trestle. If you're good with directions you could aim for the Galati Road trailhead, but Cecil Park is a more pleasant jumping off point IMHO.

In Cecil you could grab a bite to eat at the local diner Casciola's (good ice cream as well), or even try your hand at the Golden Pig which is a very small restaurant located in a nondescript building but constantly is voted best Korean food in Pittsburgh.

The McDonald viaduct is also impressive and crosses over the Panhandle Trail...a newish (10 years) connector links these two trails. Unfortunately besides the trestle itself (longest on the Montour) there's not much else to see here, but if you feel like adding another 10 miles to your trip this would be the logical direction.

Here is a link to the trail map with the mileposts marked. Map

While a direct connection would be ideal, you won't lose much of the experience doing the drive as the trail is so much different than what you would experience in the city. Sure I wouldn't want to do it all the time, but it's worth it for a change of pace especially if the wife is interested!

[PIT2MAD]

The other alternative is parking at Walkers Mill (few miles from Carnegie along Noblestown Road) where you have a 9 mile ride along the Panhandle into McDonald, and a few more to the connector and the trestle (despite being at the edge of McDonald, due to the geography of the trestle and connector, it's like a 4-5 mile ride to get onto the trestle itself from town, shorter if you take the on-road shortcut).

While I recommend the Montour, this stretch does have a few very interesting stopping points, including "Fossil Cliff" where I once searched but did not find any fossils, and an interesting cut into the hillside that has produced a perpetually shaded pond that abuts the face of the cut and has water dripping into it in several places that produces one of the most peaceful natural places I've found in my nearly 30 years of exploring the region. This trail also is very near to an access road for the future Pittsburgh Botanical Gardens, my hope is that one day the access road for construction vehicles is converted to an actual access road to the park, as it's less than 1/4 mile from the Gregg Station access.

Also, the towns of Oakdale and McDonald have several businesses including a trail station in McDonald. While they may be off the radar to the average Pittsburgher, they are nice places along the trail to explore and maybe grab a bite to eat or stop for a Powerade. McDonald has a nice-sized park that is an easy detour from the trail although it doesn't offer much besides a small skatepark.


Although I've dominated the last bit of this thread with trail news, I originally intended for it to be a thread I could update as I come across new projects (primarily PennDOT) that will benefit transportation in our regions. While I expect the Montour and Panhandle to be a very small part of future discussions, it's important noting what an org like the MTC has done with largely private funding. They've filled almost all of their gaps and important connections while in the city we like to brag but in reality the Mon is pulling almost all of the weight. Ohio and Allegheny are pitiful aside from a few miles immediate adjacent to downtown. Yet we are supposed to be the progressive ones, while in Cecil Township they've built even more crossings than the ones I've mentioned upthread INCLUDING an active rail crossing which we can't even get in Panther Hollow.

I look forward to announcing some game changing PennDOT projects in my future posts to this thread. They usually announce their new project reports in March...by then most of the current major ones will be well underway and/or close to completion so hopefully we hear some good news regarding a few of the ones mentioned in this thread. All great ideas, maybe if the day ever comes when Congress gets its act together and we can add a reliable federal funding stream to the one we now have in PA then some of the more far fetched ones can become more of a reality. On a smaller scale, maybe this will help one or two local projects to get off the ground: http://www.equipmentworld.com/penndo...oject-funding/

[ferraris]

PIT2MAD, thank you for the detailed suggestions!

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

What was the reason given for doing the T project to the north shore rather than some other destination?

1. Lot's of federal funding made available and Pittsburgh was chosen to receive it in order to test a new type of drilling machine.

2. It was to originally connect Downtown with the Northside, making it easier for people to get to and from work quickly and efficiently. I hear other cities do this. They must be CRAZY.

Of course, connecting it to the Northside was cut from the plan and we were left with a tunnel under the river to connect the two stadiums with Downtown.

Not the best use of over half a billion dollars, imo.