Thwarted

I am under no illusions- Pittsburgh is not a walking city. It is no London, or New York. Sure, it has its pockets of walkers, in Oakland near the universities, for example. But by and large, it is a city of drivers. My expectations are already low. But lately it seems that wherever my legs take me, there is something or someone in the way. Something big, noisy, dangerous- or all three.

Our city is rife with construction, even in the off-season, and it frustrates drivers as well as those on bikes or walking. But most of the improvements benefit drivers and bike riders on roads, too. And the inconveniences to these folks are mostly felt by being rerouted or made to wait in long traffic lines as two lanes are temporarily merged into one. When you are a walker- and I haven't really referred to myself as such since I was in kindergarten and walked to school- these traffic pattern changes and construction efforts are felt more palpably, and their discomfort is often translated into physical danger.

Thankfully the sidewalk and road construction on Penn Avenue between Fifth Avenue and the Bakery Square development is now at a stage so that you can once again use the sidewalk on at least one side of the street. I bused it when it was less accessible. Going around it would have taken an extra 15 or more minutes of travel time. So I was relieved when it reopened. But when you actually get to the intersection to cross, you are presented with this picture.


Barely usable for someone in sensible shoes on a good weather day, but certainly not handicap accessible or easily traversed in a downpour.

On the same day, a few blocks away, I faced off against these guys, fixing cracks in the asphalt on the road.


The noise from the truck and fumes and compressed air shooting from the hose were more than unpleasant- they made it difficult to pass on the nearby sidewalk. And dangerous to cross over as cars were speeding up to try and pass them.

On my way home, on a section of Penn Avenue closer to Downtown, I came upon these men working in manholes on both sides of the street- blocking the sidewalk on both sides with their trucks. I had to cross between the trucks, playing chicken with the traffic, to cross at all.


I know that this section of Penn Avenue, and the others that I travel, is not heavy in pedestrian traffic. But more thought and intervention- by signs or by police-is given to how cars and drivers will negotiate these roadblocks, than to anyone else. And this is not just one unfortunate, isolated day. Every week a different but similarly hazardous scenario can be encountered. More than frustrated, I feel hot under the collar- and not just from the exercise of walking.