Exploring Safe Local Streets for Riding and Walking - Part V
Brief Re-cap of Our Journey So Far
Our proposed Pittsburgh South Hills pedestrian/bicycle route has been detailed thus far from Bethel Park to Beechview and the start of the Seldom Seen Greenway. The link below is a map of the entire route. To see previous descriptions, refer to "Chapters" I-IV of this series of blog posts.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35143046
Description of The Seldom Seen Greenway (may herein after be referred to as the SSG or the Greenway)
The Seldom Seen Greenway is a recreational facility that, for some unknown reason, has not been maintained or improved over the years. Back in 1985, the Greenway was dedicated with a plaque to Edward E. Smuts, who had passed away in the previous year (1984). Mr. Smuts was an urban planner in the Pittsburgh and had a role in preserving wooded hillsides in our area. The SSG was one of those green spaces protected by Mr. Smuts and others. Online, there are a series of documents that deal with his professional activities between 1945 and 1981. Without such efforts, who knows what might have become of this potential recreational gem and non-motorized transportation corridor.
The SSG consists of approximately 22 acres of densely wooded and sometimes steep hillside that leads from Saw Mill Run Boulevard (Route 51), on the border between the Mount Washington and Beechview neighborhoods, to a residential area in the main part of Beechview that is close to the main business district and Brashear High School.
The SSG has a couple of potential branches at the top of the hill, which is where this route description will begin. In the last chapter, we finished at one potential access point for the Greenway in Tropical Park. Currently, one can find the trail there and continue down toward Saw Mill Run creek and Route 51. Another access point, at the top of Lowenhill Avenue, will put you on the trail. There is access from the grounds of Brashear High School but the last time I was there (about 7 years ago) there did not seem to be a viable connection to the "main line" of the trail. Whether or not a connection could be made is something worth looking into.
A view of the SSG pathway accessed from Tropical Park. Parking is on Tropical Avenue but I'm not sure how local residents would react were there to be a significant increase in parked vehicles.
Access to the SSG from the dead end of Lowenhill Avenue. There is no parking here.
A view of the SSG after having been accessed from Lowenhill Avenue.
Yet another portion of the Greenway is accessed on the opposite side of Crane Avenue, near the intersection with Dagmar Avenue. This rather overgrown branch runs into the woods and behind some homes, where at least a couple of residents have been dumping brush and other items. Some of this refuse blocks the path but passage was still possible the last time I went through.
This branch leads over to an informal parking lot along Crane Avenue used by some Brashear High School Students. They have to cross Crane Avenue to get to school at the height of the morning rush, which is dangerous. This part of the Greenway also leads to the Beechview Elementary School and the Alton Playground. From that point, a short walk or ride along a quiet residential street will enable access to both the Westfield and Fallowfield trolley stops. There is a protected pathway leading to the Fallowfield Stop shown in the photo I took below on a cold dark night back in 2014.
So, besides being a connection for our proposed pedestrian/bicycle route, the Seldom Seen Greenway could be a wonderful and safe recreational facility for the Beechview Community. To allow it to continue to deteriorate and be a dumping ground is a tremendous waste of potential.
Getting back to our proposed bike-ped route, we get on the Greenway from Tropical Park and start down into the valley below. Back in 2014 and 2015, a few cycling friends and I explored the SSG and found the following. As a disclaimer, we were by no means experts on the history, ownership, and ultimate potential for developing the SSG. If you decide to do some exploring, be aware that the area is not well maintained, the trail can be very muddy, the hillside is steep in places, and you could become hurt, lost, or could even die back in there. To make this a viable recreational facility, much work needs to be done but it is possible Turning this wooded hillside into a recreational facility would be a very worthy and beneficial endeavor.
One of the fellows who we were with was part of an area trails advocacy group. The group at that time routinely performed maintenance and development of trails in Western Pennsylvania. He felt very strongly that, with permission, a group of their volunteers could make significant progress toward cleaning up the trail of downed trees and overgrown brush. Additionally, it was thought that new trail alignments across the face of the hillside could be cut in. These switchbacks would help to create grades of 5-8% rather than going straight down the hillside with the Dirty Dozen-style grades that Beechview is known for having.
Along the way down, there are some other highlights worth mentioning. Remnants of a small community where people once lived were able to be seen. There is another area, to the left of Tropical Park, if heading downward. Here, there is a wide and flat shelf of rock where a rest or picnic area could exist. Adjacent to that place was (is) a fenced-off training area for the military or perhaps police.
There may be others who know more about the little community and the "training area" than we did. Such information to clarify and better understand the history of the area would be welcomed.
Once down into the valley, the grade lessens and even flattens out. There is a former railroad right-of-way, the acquisition of which or the negotiation of an easement would be needed. This is because it would help to leads us to the next portion of the Greenway.
As the Saw Mill Run creek is approached, there is evidence, in the form of a solid concrete abutment, that a bridge across the creek once existed. All Pittsburghers know that Saw Mill Run floods quite drastically in this area from time to time. It is probable that one such event took out whatever bridge once stood there.
According to our "trails expert" at that time, there were two schools of thought for replacing the bridge. The first is to build an indestructible bridge, like the one you will see later on in this post, to withstand anything Saw Mill Run could throw at it. This would obviously be very expensive. The 2nd would be to build a simpler bridge with two important advantages over the first solution. One would be cost and number two would be ease of replacement by volunteers. Which of these options will prevail is yet to be decided.
In any event, we have to get across the creek to make this a viable bike-ped transportation corridor. Once we are across, there are still a couple of sights to see and appreciate. The first is a massive stone arch bridge that carries railroad tracks over the Saw Mill Run stream. It is a magnificent piece of construction and has withstood some significant raging flood waters during its time. If we were ever to complete this project, more people could see and appreciate its beauty and that of the Greenway.
The second attraction is the dedication plaque mentioned at the beginning of this post. We encounter it after coming through the arched bridge and arriving to the parking lot along Route 51, where the salt dome is also located. An argument could be made that the salt dome itself is at least a landmark, if not an attraction.
Part 5 of this series concludes here. The next and final chapter will discuss continuing our non-motorized pedestrian/bicycle route in one of three directions, through the Wabash Tunnel, up the backside of Mount Washington using the Emerald View Trails, and Route 51.
Comments