Community weighs in on master bike plan
Before leaving for work in the morning, Jesse Descutner sometimes finds himself fearing for his life.
“It’s bizarre that before you leave for work in the morning, you have to be thankful you’re alive and just hope that you make it home safe because you’re unsure of what’s going to happen,” Mr. Descutner, 25, said.
While Mr. Descutner tries to bike from his home in Bloomfield to work at the Northside Leadership Conference as much as possible, he can’t help but feel concerned for his safety. Major bike lanes, such as the one flowing through Liberty Avenue towards the Strip District, are helpful for Mr. Descutner’s commute. However, a lack of connecting bike lanes on his commute provides an obstacle for him.
His concern is what brought him to a public meeting hosted by the City of Pittsburgh at Arnold’s Tea on the North Side Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was designed as an open house to gather input from the public about the city’s proposed master bike plan.
Earlier this month, the city released a 71-page draft of the plan that proposes a number of changes — including adding 120 miles of bike lanes and 32 miles of trails across Pittsburgh. At the meeting, poster boards describing the plan lined the room, along with a table with two large maps of Pittsburgh that outlines the proposed added bike routes across the city.
Mr. Descutner said he hopes to see a bike lane added to the 40th Street Bridge for safety reasons.
North Side resident Jerry Green also attended the meeting. While Mr. Green, 75, said he approves of the proposed new bike paths, he has doubts on how much the city will follow through on its plan.
“I’ve seen the history,” Mr. Green said. “It’s been six years since the proposal to put a bike loop around Allegheny Center. It took six years and it’s not done yet. It just moves too slowly. And we’ve heard all the excuses.”
Kim Lucas, the assistant director of the city Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, said she is pleased so far with the amount of input the community has provided. Ms. Lucas said the city hopes to produce a final plan by the end of March.
Another Pittsburgh biking initiative was acknowledged earlier in the day after Pittsburgh’s Healthy Ride Share program received a $10,000 grant by the Better Bike Share Program Partnership.
The ride share program, a nonprofit designed for users to rent bikes around the city per half hour, will use the grant money to directly fund the organization’s community ambassadors, Erin Potts, the organization’s spokesperson, said.
Community ambassadors will be paid a stipend to plan group bike rides around their communities to inform the public about the bike share program.
Ms. Potts said it’s important to expand the ambassador program because it provides a more consistent and authentic way to collect feedback from communities to make the bikes hare more feasible and accessible.
Ms. Lucas said she’s happy the program has received the grant, as the program is a “critical component” to increasing affordable mobility for residents.
Wednesday’s meeting was the second of five happening this month. The last three are:
• The Shop (Homewood), 621 N. Dallas Ave., Tuesday, 3-8 p.m.
• South Side Market House, 202 Bedford Square, Wednesday, 4-8 p.m.
• City-County Building Lobby (Downtown), 414 Grant St., Thursday,10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Residents can also provide feedback online at bikeped@pittsburghpa.gov.