OpenStreets Pittsburgh has new day, new route

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

OpenStreets Pittsburgh has two new twists for its final event of the summer— a new route and a new day.

It will be held Saturday instead of Sunday and it will run for the first time through Homewood, Shadyside, Larimer, East Liberty and Point Breeze.

OpenStreets host Bike Pittsburgh decided to hold the event on Saturday after East End community members said they preferred to have Sunday free to attend church or run errands, according to BikePGH communications manager Alexandria Shewczyk.

“We’re really excited to launch a brand-new route,” she said. “We want new neighborhoods to experience the joy of safe streets.”

OpenStreets, in its fourth season in Pittsburgh, gives people the opportunity to get outside and walk, skate or bike through closed-off streets in select neighborhoods.

It will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday.

Participation has grown over the years, along with concerns about the closed streets.

BikePGH has posted flyers throughout the East End informing residents of Saturday’s closures, Ms. Shewczyk said. BikePGH employees planned to go door to door to homes in the area this week, and they have met with neighborhood organizations.

“We’re trying to hit every single base here to let [community] members know,” Ms. Shewczyk said.

The route stretches nearly 4½ miles, the longest to date. The change was made to give participants more “breathing room,” Ms. Skewczyk said. Past routes — through Lawrenceville, the South Side, Uptown and the West End — have been 3½ to 4 miles long.

The Rev. Randy Bush of East Liberty Presbyterian Church said his congregation is used to rearranging its worship schedule because of the Pittsburgh Marathon.