Friday, September 21, 2007

KDKA's Marty Giffin on a rant about traffic

For good reason, Marty is ranting about traffic. An accident crushed the morning rush and he was late for his show. Plus, the outbound Ft. Pitt Tunnel is going to close for a few hours this afternoon.

My email to him:

I've got a plan.

1. Bike
2. Bike paths / bike lanes (been to Chengdu and Christchurch)
3. Live in the city
4. Pedestrian bridges
5. Tax Land, not buildings

And, I did have the courage to stand up and scream to fight the tunnel
for light rail to the North Side. I wasn't digging it!

My lone wolfs barks continue!

In other news, I'm going to file complaints to the Ethics Hearing Board. And, the target of the first complaint is the Ethics Hearing Board and its confidentiality clause for whistle blowers. (no joke)

In other news, what about the petition for county council to stop the new tax for pouring tax? Are you in?

5 comments:

Schultz said...

1. Bike
2. Bike paths / bike lanes (been to Chengdu and Christchurch)
3. Live in the city
4. Pedestrian bridges
5. Tax Land, not buildings


1. Alternative means of commuting and trasit, I'm all for that!

2. Bike lanes are good, but dedicated bike paths are better! Connect some suburban bike paths to the paths in the city and you'll start to see more people bike commuting into town.

3. Schools, blight, crimes - all needs to get cleaned up before people move to and stay in the city!

4. North Shore has some nice pedestrian walkways. South Shore has walkways such as the artist formerly known as the 10th Street Bridge and then the Eliza Furnace Trail connector to the South Shore trails going across Hot Metal Bridge.

5. How about we do what Buffalo is doing and create a plan to raze all of the dilapidated houses and buildings around town? Buffalo is one of the worst for abandoned houses, Pittsburgh is not too far behind, and their mayor started a $100 plan to raze 5,000 houses over the next 5 years. The city must be truly livable if they want to keep people from moving to the North and South Hills.

Schultz said...

Opps! 1. "transit"

Mark Rauterkus said...

I put both bike lanes and bike paths as I am NOT so keen on bike trails for exploring nature and the joy of peddling. Those are great, healthy, wellness features -- of course.

But, we don't generally bike from Millvale to South Side to work, play, worship, shop, socialize, volunteer, and learn (education) -- via the WEST END BRIDGE.

When we bike on the South Side, -- we don't want to go to the river to get to the video store rental place -- for instnace -- on our bikes.

Provide river trails of course. But I want places for bikes (in own lane / ave / space / trail) between where we are and where we want to go throughout our communities.

Glad you agree. Just tried to be with more depth in my thoughts.

PS: Don't fret the typos.

Anonymous said...

John K. says: Bravo! Bike paths and walking trails. Not thru the woods and parks, although those aren't bad. But trails and paveways that actually get a commuter to work and home again. Try riding a bike N on RT 51 during rush hour. This idea is well supported by me.

Schultz said...

Oops! I meant "Oops!" :)