Business owners in Downtown Pittsburgh are speaking out in opposition to a proposed, and funded, bike lane project on Fort Pitt Boulevard, raising concerns about parking and access to businesses.
Adam Smeltz reports on the "bikelash" facing a bike lane proposed for Fort Pitt Boulevard in Pittsburgh. Smeltz provides a dispatch for a recent community meeting about the bile lane, reporting that several Downtown business people are concerned that the proposed bike lane "would badly hamper access to businesses and residences there, obstructing critical deliveries and likely ruining street parking…"
The Pittsburgh City Council has already approved spending for the $772,000 project, with 80 percent of the total cost coming from the federal government. Here's how Smeltz describes the scope of the project:
Two bike lanes — one in each direction — would replace a parking lane on the north side of Fort Pitt Boulevard from Grant to Stanwix streets. From there, the lanes would turn north on Stanwix, with one lane planted on each side of the street.
They would reunite on the north side of Penn Avenue, where they would continue west toward the state park, effectively extending bike lanes already in place farther east on Penn.
Planners are hoping to complete the project in 2017.
FULL STORY: Downtown Pittsburgh property owners worried over bike lane plans
Lessons From Past Bike Lane Controversies Rarely Inform Present Debates
History repeats itself with the political controversies created by bike lanes.
Business Owners Force Removal of New Tulsa Bike Lanes
Local politics is still an obstacle for street reconfigurations that make space for people on bikes.
10 Bike Lane Myths, Debunked
Bike advocates have been countering misleading anti-bike lane arguments for months now, but in case you needed a reminder, here's a sample of how opponents to bake lane projects get the realities of riding a bike wrong.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
