Bridges, the Run, and the Hollow

There have been some nice evenings to ride after work this week. I finally remembered there is a sidewalk on the Fort Pitt Bridge (shown above). It makes for a nicer, albeit longer ride over the Monongahela River to the South Side than fighting rush hour traffic from the Point to and over the Smithfield Bridge. The next picture is crossing the Allegheny on the Fort Duquesne Bridge. The Fort Pitt Bridge can be seen in the distance.


Riding home from the terminus of the Eliza Furnace Trail takes one through 4-mile Run. Big Jim's resides in the Run. In true Pittsburgh fashion, the serving sizes are enormous and are dirt cheap.


Continuing toward Oakland, in Panther Hollow, is this building. I think it's a CHP plant for the university, but don't quote me.

Mon Wharf trail work starts

The city has started work on the riverfront trail along the Mon Wharf parking area. This project is very exciting, as currently, there is no non-traffic connection between the Eliza Furnace Trail (lovingly called the Jail Trail locally) and Point State Park. The Eliza Furnace Trail (more info on the Three Rivers Heritage Trails) runs on the north side of the Monongahela River between Oakland and Downtown and connects via the Hot Metal Bridge to the Southside Works and the South Side Trail (Station Square to the Glenwood Bridge area).

The Mon Wharf is parking lot for the folks that work and visit downtown. It's a dodgy place to park in that the Monongahela River floods the outer edge of it when the river crests 18 feet, which is about any time it rains more than a drizzle. The work will remove some parking, but create a promenade that will allow bike and pedestrian use and green space.

I'm very excited about this, in that I frequently ride from work through Point State Park and then navigate my way through traffic up to the Eliza Furnace Trail to head back home. I'm comfortable riding in traffic, but there are many weekend riders of the Eliza Furnace Trail that would be well served with a safer route to the point. Many times, I've seen parents with small children on bikes fearfully making their way along Boulevard of the Allies (busy, arterial road) to get between the trails.

The Post Gazette article about the start of the work can be found here. Here is a picture I took of the Mon Wharf looking up the Monongahela River.

This last image, courtesy of the Post Gazette. Note that this is looking the opposite direction from my picture above and shows a different bridge.