ADVERTISEMENT

OT: Port Authority driver pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Pitt student's death

Maybe I'm living in fantasy land, but I've never understood why they can't build walkways that go over 5th/Forbes/Bigelow. Likes bridges, except for foot traffic. I almost got waxed on the way to class once. It was my fault, but not having at least one brain fart in four years is asking a lot for young people (or anyone, really).
 
  • Like
Reactions: HailToPitt725
They need to sink and cover that entire section of 5th. Expensive, yes, but worth it if saves one life.

Such a needless tragedy and a promising young life snuffed out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HailToPitt725
CaptainMurphy said:
They need to sink and cover that entire section of 5th. Expensive, yes, but worth it if saves one life.

Such a needless tragedy and a promising young life snuffed out.
Click to expand...

I have said exactly that. Tunnel under Forbes or Fifth and plant grass on the road above it. However, regardless of what happens, there should not be that bus lane going the wrong way on Fifth. Send them down on Forbes. Sure, it'll clog up traffic some but there's a person killed every 5 years or so due to these wrong-way buses. Its unnecessary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HailToPitt725
Sean Miller Fan said:
I have said exactly that. Tunnel under Forbes or Fifth and plant grass on the road above it. However, regardless of what happens, there should not be that bus lane going the wrong way on Fifth. Send them down on Forbes. Sure, it'll clog up traffic some but there's a person killed every 5 years or so due to these wrong-way buses. Its unnecessary.
Click to expand...

I agree the one-way bus line is stupid/dangerous, but it doesn't sound like that was the issue here. Conversely, I'm sure there are also quite a few people who get hit from that and don't die. Especially in the age of cell phones.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
I have said exactly that. Tunnel under Forbes or Fifth and plant grass on the road above it. However, regardless of what happens, there should not be that bus lane going the wrong way on Fifth. Send them down on Forbes. Sure, it'll clog up traffic some but there's a person killed every 5 years or so due to these wrong-way buses. Its unnecessary.
Click to expand...

I don't think Forbes is as feasible given all of the connections to streets in south Oakland, Schenley Park, and the museums. But sure, you could tunnel Fifth between Bellefield and Bigelow and Bigelow and Desoto without causing much of an impact to traffic.

This wasn't related, just an instance of a bus driver not following protocol. She let someone get on the bus away from a stop and people standing in front of the white line (blocking her view of the mirror). Which is stuff I have seen almost every day when riding the bus out of town. Hopefully this incident can lead to an end to some of the unsafe practices but I doubt it.

I feel bad for the driver as well as she is young, a single mom, and seems genuinely devastated by the fact that her actions took a human life.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
I have said exactly that. Tunnel under Forbes or Fifth and plant grass on the road above it. However, regardless of what happens, there should not be that bus lane going the wrong way on Fifth. Send them down on Forbes. Sure, it'll clog up traffic some but there's a person killed every 5 years or so due to these wrong-way buses. Its unnecessary.
Click to expand...
I believe that the new BRT transit configuration between Downtown and Oakland will eliminate that situation. And tunneling is totally out of the question.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
I have said exactly that. Tunnel under Forbes or Fifth and plant grass on the road above it. However, regardless of what happens, there should not be that bus lane going the wrong way on Fifth. Send them down on Forbes. Sure, it'll clog up traffic some but there's a person killed every 5 years or so due to these wrong-way buses. Its unnecessary.
Click to expand...
And while they're digging that tunnel they can just keep going and build the nation's first on-campus underground 65,000 seat Division I football stadium.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: HailToPitt725
PharMorNightStocker said:
Maybe I'm living in fantasy land, but I've never understood why they can't build walkways that go over 5th/Forbes/Bigelow. Likes bridges, except for foot traffic. I almost got waxed on the way to class once. It was my fault, but not having at least one brain fart in four years is asking a lot for young people (or anyone, really).
Click to expand...
Because people wouldn’t use it. The pedestrian bridge over Forbes near Towers and Lawrence has existed for decades now, and for just as many decades, students have jaywalked across the street right below it because crossing on the street is more convenient than going out of your way to use a tunnel or a bridge. Recently, Pitt and Penndot made the wise decision (for once) to just make a new crosswalk and traffic light right under the bridge, because that’s where people were actually crossing the street.

The BRT will be a great solution to get rid of the contra-flow bus lane through Oakland, though that wasn’t the issue here. But more pedestrian infrastructure would be beneficial - Fifth and Forbes are major traffic corridors, but there are too many spots in Oakland where they feel way too much like highways for as dense and pedestrian-heavy as the neighborhood is. The roads need to be modified to suit the neighborhood, not the other way around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GenesPlace
Perhaps it’s because we’re not longer living in the area and I don’t get the Post Gazette, but somehow I’m just now reading about this. What an awful, tragic story. Felt like a gut punch hearing how the bus ran her over.

I really hope the renovations they just made down there help because they oughta do something about 5th, even if it’s just tearing up the road altogether and replacing it with grass.
 
pittchagg said:
Because people wouldn’t use it. The pedestrian bridge over Forbes near Towers and Lawrence has existed for decades now, and for just as many decades, students have jaywalked across the street right below it because crossing on the street is more convenient than going out of your way to use a tunnel or a bridge. Recently, Pitt and Penndot made the wise decision (for once) to just make a new crosswalk and traffic light right under the bridge, because that’s where people were actually crossing the street.

The BRT will be a great solution to get rid of the contra-flow bus lane through Oakland, though that wasn’t the issue here. But more pedestrian infrastructure would be beneficial - Fifth and Forbes are major traffic corridors, but there are too many spots in Oakland where they feel way too much like highways for as dense and pedestrian-heavy as the neighborhood is. The roads need to be modified to suit the neighborhood, not the other way around.
Click to expand...

BRT is still a bus lane.
 
pittchagg said:
Because people wouldn’t use it. The pedestrian bridge over Forbes near Towers and Lawrence has existed for decades now, and for just as many decades, students have jaywalked across the street right below it because crossing on the street is more convenient than going out of your way to use a tunnel or a bridge. Recently, Pitt and Penndot made the wise decision (for once) to just make a new crosswalk and traffic light right under the bridge, because that’s where people were actually crossing the street.

The BRT will be a great solution to get rid of the contra-flow bus lane through Oakland, though that wasn’t the issue here. But more pedestrian infrastructure would be beneficial - Fifth and Forbes are major traffic corridors, but there are too many spots in Oakland where they feel way too much like highways for as dense and pedestrian-heavy as the neighborhood is. The roads need to be modified to suit the neighborhood, not the other way around.
Click to expand...
Shake a tree in Pittsburgh and a study and a plan fall out.
But action on those plans occur with less frequency than the 17 year cicada invasion.
You’ll see the BRT the same year you see a Republican Mayor of Pittsburgh marry the Easter Bunny and then honeymoon at the Claus residence at the North Pole.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vietvet1, CaptainMurphy, RaleighPittFan and 1 other person
HailtoPitt said:
BRT is still a bus lane.
Click to expand...
Yes, but it goes with traffic. Huge difference.

And even then, the presence or not of a bus lane wouldn’t have made any difference in the instant situation. But it’ll make things safer for everyone across the board.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vietvet1
pittchagg said:
Because people wouldn’t use it. The pedestrian bridge over Forbes near Towers and Lawrence has existed for decades now, and for just as many decades, students have jaywalked across the street right below it because crossing on the street is more convenient than going out of your way to use a tunnel or a bridge. Recently, Pitt and Penndot made the wise decision (for once) to just make a new crosswalk and traffic light right under the bridge, because that’s where people were actually crossing the street.
Click to expand...

The problem with that bridge is the way it is configured. Pedestrians on the Lawrence side of the road come from a bunch of different places and it is not at all convenient to enter Lawrence, climb the stairs, and then use the bridge. It is a bit more sensible from the Towers side.
 
djbpitt said:
There's precedence for that. Until 1951 the basketball team played in the Pitt Pavilion in the bowels of Pitt Stadium.

Panthers' previous homes were memorable, even if they weren't very comfortable

old.post-gazette.com
Click to expand...

"I never saw one of those games with a huge crowd," said Pederson, who came to Pitt in 1996. "We just weren't drawing. We were going down and playing Georgetown in front of 7,000 people and the Civic Arena didn't give us any advantage. I'd rather bring it back to campus and fill it up there. It was kind of silly, really, to keep playing there.

"Plus, it was hard to get dates with the Penguins. It became very difficult to schedule any time there."

LMAO.
 
CaptainMurphy said:
They need to sink and cover that entire section of 5th. Expensive, yes, but worth it if saves one life.

Such a needless tragedy and a promising young life snuffed out.
Click to expand...
Life in a city...thousands of miles of Forbes and 5th's across the country..sink them all?...we could save 34,000 lives a year with a national 10mph speed limit...expensive, but if it saves 34,000 lives, worth It?
 
upj87 said:
Life in a city...thousands of miles of Forbes and 5th's across the country..sink them all?...we could save 34,000 lives a year with a national 10mph speed limit...expensive, but if it saves 34,000 lives, worth It?
Click to expand...

That's borderline trolling. He is talking about one specific stretch of a road, and suggesting that it could make sense to dig a tunnel. It doesn't have to turn into a small rant.
 
HailtoPitt said:
That's borderline trolling. He is talking about one specific stretch of a road, and suggesting that it could make sense to dig a tunnel. It doesn't have to turn into a small rant.
Click to expand...
no rant .. I just said there are thousands of miles the same types of "stretches" of roads everywhere. 6,000 such tunnels would have needed to have been constructed last year to alleviate this problem.....No it does not make "sense" to dig freaking tunnels every time there is an unfortunate accident...a pedestrian tunnel under the road makes "sense", a buried traffic road is absurd......
 
Last edited:
upj87 said:
no rant .. I just said there are thousands of miles the same types of "stretches" of roads everywhere. 6,000 such tunnels would have needed to have been constructed last year to alleviate this problem.....No it does not make "sense" to dig freaking tunnels every time there is an unfortunate accident...a pedestrian tunnel under the road makes "sense", a buried traffic road is absurd......
Click to expand...
A pedestrian tunnel that nobody would use does not make sense.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Saboteur II
pittchagg said:
A pedestrian tunnel that nobody would use does not make sense.
Click to expand...
fair enough (oddly enough though it makes significantly more sense than a three lane mini fort pitt tunnel) but I did not start the "someone died build a tunnel" conversation ......
 
upj87 said:
no rant .. I just said there are thousands of miles the same types of "stretches" of roads everywhere. 6,000 such tunnels would have needed to have been constructed last year to alleviate this problem.....No it does not make "sense" to dig freaking tunnels every time there is an unfortunate accident...a pedestrian tunnel under the road makes "sense", a buried traffic road is absurd......
Click to expand...

But he made no mention of those other locations. Using this explaination would lead to almost nothing ever getting built.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back