Hoofing Around These South Hills Towns in Winter

 After the first significant snowfall in our region, on Martin Luther King Day (1/17/22), I put my bike away for a while.  In years past, I rode through these Pittsburgh Winters (see below).  This year, I decided not to let the salt ruin another drivetrain and braking system on my bike.  So, I started walking instead.

I decided not to live the Salt Life with my bicycle this Winter.  Sodium Chloride on the roads wreaks havoc on the bicycle drivetrain and braking system.  The photo above was taken on 1/31/21.

Coaxing myself out the door was tough at first because it was dark and the temperatures dipped into the single digits (Fahrenheit), which often happens after a snowfall.  It also took me a couple of walks to find the right boots.  However, after a few forays on foot, like the Marines say, one improvises, adapts, and overcomes.  

    What I already knew (from cycling), but hadn't had much first hand experience of, was the fact that getting around here safely on foot has its share of challenges anytime but especially so in Winter. 

The approach from Connor Road to Route 88 (aka Library Road) at the Castle Shannon-Bethel Park border.  Significant foot traffic is easily observed in the snow.  The many footprints are proof that people are indeed walking around town, even in inclement weather. The footprints and the freeze/thaw cycles, have created an uneven and slippery surface where walking is difficult.

  Some of the sidewalk on Connor road, approaching Route 88, runs past Saint John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery and then over a small stream bed (Saw Mill Run) and the Port Authority Light Rail Line.  Possible responsible parties for the section that goes over the stream and tracks are, Port Authority,  The Commonwealth (of Pennsylvania),  Allegheny County,  Castle Shannon Borough, and/or  The Municipality of Bethel Park.  There could be a mystery owner.  One thing is for sure, nobody has stepped up to do any winter sidewalk maintenance. 

The sidewalk overpass for crossing the tracks.

Once one turns onto Route 88, there is no sidewalk at all.  A very narrow and gravel strewn berm separates the pedestrian from heavy, often fast-moving, and potentially deadly traffic.  Shortly after tuning onto the Southbound side of Route 88, there is an access road leading down to a power sub-station.  It would keep the helpless (hapless) pedestrian sufficiently away from traffic.  But there is also a No Trespassing sign there.  It seems like a natural for people heading to the Washington Junction Trolley Station to be able to take that little road but the threatening signage forces a tough choice.  Either take a chance on the trespassing penalty or on being run over.  From what is observable in the snow, significant numbers of people are making both choices.  

Would it be too much to ask of the Bethel Park and Castle Shannon leadership to collaborate and do something for its citizens here?  Since people are trying to get to the trolley without being maimed or killed, something should be done to ensure safe passage without falling, getting snow in the shoes, and/or being flattened by a motorist?  The odds on hitting (no pun intended) the trifecta are pretty good at this time of year.  For every person who walks to the trolley, that is one less car contributing to gridlock.  That ought to be taken into consideration when planning how best to serve the public and use financial resources.

Haphazard manner, in which some sidewalks are cleared in Winter.  Some property owners do it while others do not.  Pedestrians are often left to fend for themselves.

Sidewalk responsibilities here in Western Pennsylvania, are odd.  I spent part of my youth in a small town that was considered to be exurbia to Boston, Massachusetts.  More than 50 years ago, I remember the local public works department used what appeared to be small Bobcats to clear the sidewalks.  I wonder why is that not done here in the Keystone State. 

Although often initially installed by government entities (or contractors working for same), sidewalks subsequently become the responsibility of adjacent property owners to maintain (all the time) and clear in Winter.   This is true whether the adjacent property owner is an elderly person, is disabled, has a medical  condition, is an addict, or happens to be working out of town all the time.  Sometimes, the adjacent property owner is a local business, a corporation, or even a governmental entity!  None of these possibilities come with a guarantee that their sidewalks are reliably cleared or maintained.  Sidewalk regulations seem to be based on the erroneous beliefs that all property owners have the time, are able-bodied, or have the financial means to reliably maintain their sidewalks.

While Bethel Park and Castle Shannon were mentioned above, their handling of sidewalks is not unique.  I recently took a walk through Mount Lebanon, which has a lively uptown business community.  Since traffic in the area is heavy, parking either costs money, is difficult to find (or both), and public transit is nearby, access by walking seems logical and should be encouraged.  Most of the sidewalks in the Uptown area are clear but one does not have to go very far to find problematic areas.  

It should also be noted that Mount Lebanon, like most of this area, is hilly.  Trying to walk up or down a slick sidewalk is a good way to get hurt.  What follows are a few photos showing Mount Lebanon sidewalks in less than optimal states of care.  

With an incline to negotiate, this could be a slippery proposition.

If you are a downhill skier, this slalom course between the trash cans might be fun.

This is another heavily used sidewalk along a busy road that leads to shopping, business, and public transit in Mount Lebanon.  I think there are some doctors there too, in case someone has an unfortunate accident.

"Things" have been this way for a long time.  Thinking and planning have (and still do) favor the almighty automobile while leaving pedestrians out in the cold.  The Coronavirus Pandemic and the rising costs of nearly everything have led to a paradigm shift among some segments of the population.  The younger people have especially felt the pain of crippling student loan debt, increased housing costs, child care expenses, the high cost of motor vehicle ownership, and being locked into an unfulfilling job in order to try and pay for it all.   One way to try and avoid those increasing costs is to ditch the car and get around on foot, bicycle, and/or public transit.  Many young people here in the Pittsburgh area are doing this as we speak.

According to AAA (Automobile Association of America), the average annual cost of vehicle ownership in the USA is anywhere from $9,000.00 to 11,000.00.  Some other sources put those costs even higher.  Taking the AAA Club's estimates as a conservative starting point translates to between $750.00 to 917.00 per month.  This is a heavy burden on a budget already strained by the aforementioned costs.

Thinking of this in another way, it costs anywhere from $2.00 - 2.50 to get into your car each day.  If people had to use their ATM cards in the car door every morning, how many would be looking for ways to avoid doing it sometimes?  This may not seem like a lot of money but day after day, it adds up.  Of course, savings can be had by not maintaining a vehicle, using bald tires, and forgoing insurance... and some have no choice but to procrastinate on all of the above. 

Making some assumptions based on what we've been talking about here, one cannot live in a tent all Winter, one must work steadily, student loans have to be paid back,  the kids require supervision, and the family has to eat.  So, something has to give.  The extra financial burden of automobile ownership has a significant impact on the household budget.  Those who have tried to opt out of the motor pool a're finding that most of the local communities are not set up safely or reliably to get around by walking, bicycling, and public transportation.  This is especially true in Winter.

Commuting bicyclist on West Liberty Avenue (Brookline) a couple of winters ago.

In addition to an improved household budget, people are finding that getting around on foot lessens stress (most of the time) and improves fitness.  If one doesn't happen to get maimed or killed, the result is a happier, skinnier, healthier, and wealthier person.

Why then does it have to be so dangerous and inconvenient to pursue this car free strategy?  The only real answer is that we have a collective car dependent mindset that has resulted in conditions being this way.  That mindset seems to be changing in some quarters but there is much left to be done to create a transportation system that serves more than automobile owners.

This illustration above (larger version available in the Citizens Plan) is from a document called the Citizens Plan.  A group called Penn Future developed it in 2002 as an alternate way to spend the nearly $2 Billion that was allocated to (apparently that meant borrowed to build) the Mon-Fayette Expressway.  Penn Future showed how the money could have been used to re-design and improve several regional roadways and other items.  That is pretty amazing in and of itself.  The more than $2 Billion that was used to build one new road could have been used to improve several existing roads and there would have been money left over to take care of some additional projects.  Did we do that?  Hell no!

 The illustration above is a rendition of what Route 51 could have looked like on its path to Pittsburgh from the South Hills.  There is room here for all uses, motor vehicles, public transit, and pedestrians all in a safer and more park like setting.  Instead, we still have the congested, dangerous, and waterlogged eyesore that is the Route 51 we all know and "love" so well.  

The politicians, the Turnpike commission (and its current $14 Billion of debt) ignored all of this moved forward with the new highway.  That road was supposed to revitalize the Monongahela River Valley, after its collapse and that of the steel industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  

At the risk of ruining the story by skipping to the end, the revitalization didn't happen.  Some 20 years later, these Mon Valley communities are some of the most drug and crime ridden places in the region.  But hey, the silver lining is a beautiful and completely deserted highway nearby where a family could have a picnic in the middle and be undisturbed for most of a pleasant Sunday afternoon.   

Spending for better pedestrian infrastructure is a drop in the bucket compared to the money spent on the  several deserted area highways built in the past 20 years.  At this moment, more such highways are ready to be built while even more debt is scheduled to accumulate.  Steadily rising Turnpike tolls, including those they're having a lot trouble collecting, since they got rid of most of the tool both collectors, won't cover this debt or the new construction costs.  The enemies of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, who usually cry about the cost of same, apparently have no problem with excessive highway spending in Pennsylvania.   

Taking a closer look, the average cost of a pedestrian/bicycle lane is between $5,000.00 and 50,000.00 per mile (that's between 5 thousand and 50 thousand dollars per mile).  The most recent section of the very lightly used Southern Beltway cost more than $69,000,000.00 per mile (that's 69 million dollars per mile!) and was delivered to us by an organization that is $14 Billion Dollars in debt... and counting.  If someone is upset about pedestrian bicycle infrastructure spending one might logically conclude those very same people must be having a coronary over what the highway planners are doing.  Actually, they're not.  Talk about sweating the small stuff.  These kinds of people wrote the book.  It's high time to publish a new edition.