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Kennywood Amusement Park

1 (5.6%)

Bridge tour (Three Sisters, West End)

4 (22.2%)

Tunnel tour (Wabash, Armstrong, Liberty)

4 (22.2%)

Nike missile sites

2 (11.1%)

Monroeville Mall

4 (22.2%)

Bigelow Mosaic (in case I choose not to have it on the tour)

3 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 6

[rickmastfan67]

BIGELOW BOULEVARD
Estimated Time: 2:45 PM (turning onto Bigelow Boulevard)
Follow signs for PA 885 North to I-376 West. Do note that a left turn from Bates Street to Blvd. of the Allies is unsigned. Turn left onto Blvd. of the Allies. Keep right and exit for I-376 West to Downtown. Take Exit 71B and follow Second Avenue to its end at Ross Street. Turn right on Ross and continue straight. Due to construction, the tunnel mosaic has been removed.

HEADS UP! Exit #71B is CLOSED this entire weekend.  So is the Blvd of the Allies onramp to I-376 that is mentioned above.  We will need to adjust.

Expansion dam replacement work, requiring ramp closures with detours, will occur from 8 p.m. Friday night continuously through 5 a.m. Monday morning in the following locations:

    Inbound (northbound) Boulevard of the Allies ramp to inbound (westbound) I-376 Parkway East

    Inbound (westbound) I-376 Parkway East ramp to Second Avenue (Exit 71B)

https://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-11/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3654

Even worse, the Boulevard of the Allies will be undergoing repaving the entire weekend between the Bates & the I-376 ramps, so, major delays might happen along there.

Single-lane restrictions will occur in both directions on the Boulevard of the Allies between the Birmingham Bridge and Bates Street from 8 p.m. Friday night through 6 a.m. Monday morning for milling and paving operations. Travel lanes will be reduced to a 10-foot width in both directions.

https://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-11/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3652

[rickmastfan67]

So, with the two ramps we would have used on Saturday scheduled to be closed, I recommend one of the following 3 routes as a replacements.

1) PA-837 -> Birmingham Bridge -> Fifth Ave -> Washington Pl -> PA-380 (Bigelow Blvd)
This route would take you right beside PPG Paints Arena (home of the Pittsburgh Penguins) if you're the type that like to mark off areas that you've seen at least.

2) PA-837 -> 10th St Bridge -> Armstrong Tunnel -> Forbes Ave -> Chatham Sq/Washington Pl -> PA-380

3) PA-885 -> Blvd. of the Allies -> I-579 -> PA-380
This one requires the least amount of modification to the original plans, but due to the construction, odds are will take the longest.

If I had to choose one of them, I would think that #1 would offer the safest route, as you will probably not have to fight with much of the I-376 detour traffic.

[noelbotevera]

Following rickmastfan67's suggestions, I've since updated the itinerary, using the #1 route suggested. I wrote off #2 as an alternative, since the 10th Street Bridge is architecturally interesting and some may not have driven it if they didn't go to the pre meet.

They're under the Bigelow Boulevard section.

Updated itinerary

Also, heads up: Meet's in two days. Hope to see y'all there to make some roadmeet history!

[rickmastfan67]

The bridge ends at Fifth Avenue. Turn left at the end of the bridge. After a few blocks on Fifth, turn right onto Washington Place. You are then forced to turn right onto PA 380.

That would be incorrect.  If you were 'forced' to turn right there, you'd be on Bedford Ave heading up to the I-579 HOV lane entrance.

This would be better to say:
After passing the intersection with Centre Ave, be in the center lane to slide right to access PA 380 (Bigelow Blvd).

[rickmastfan67]

Joy, and more joy.  PennDOT really wants to F us over.

https://www.penndot.gov/RegionalOffices/district-11/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3675

Line painting operations will occur from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, August 10 on I-376 (Parkway West) in each direction between the Fort Pitt Tunnel and the Carnegie (Exit 65) interchange. Crews will also paint off and on-ramps.  Additionally, if time permits, crews will work on I-376 (Parkway West) between I-79 Washington/Erie (Exit 64A) and the Campbells Run Road (Exit 62) interchanges.

====

Also, if anybody will be "trying" to use the Parkway East to get to the Lunch start, PennDOT will also be doing bridge inspections. 

https://www.penndot.gov/regionaloffices/district-11/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3667

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing inspection activities on I-376 (Parkway East) in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, will occur Saturday and Sunday, August 10-11 weather permitting.

Single-lane restrictions will occur on I-376 from 6 a.m. to noon each day in the following locations:

    The I-376 Frazier Street Bridge between the Oakland (Exit 72A) and Squirrel Hill/Homestead (Exit 74) interchanges. Work will occur outbound (eastbound) Saturday and inbound (westbound) on Sunday. Crews from the Mackin Engineering Company and the Sofis Rigging Company will conduct the work.

    Boulevard of the Allies ramps over I-376. Work will occur in both directions each day.  Additionally, this work will continue weeknights from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through late September. Crews from HDR Engineering and the Sofis Rigging Company will conduct the work.

[rickmastfan67]

HEADS UP PRE-MEET PEOPLE:

Pittsburgh, PA — PennDOT District 11 is announcing roadway improvement work on Route 837 (West Carson Street) in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, will occur Saturday and Sunday, August 10-11 weather permitting.

Single-lane restrictions on Route 837 will occur as needed between the Smithfield Street Bridge and the West End Circle as crews conduct concrete patching. Lane restrictions will occur from 2 a.m. Saturday continuously through 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

https://www.penndot.gov/regionaloffices/district-11/pages/details.aspx?newsid=3668

[74/171FAN]

Thanks for posting these.  Even though I will not be there, I am heavily concerned about how this meet is going to go, but I am hoping for the best.

[hbelkins]

Thanks for posting these.  Even though I will not be there, I am heavily concerned about how this meet is going to go, but I am hoping for the best.

I hope it went well, too. One big reason I opted not to attend was concern for the meet's organization -- but PennDOT construction being announced at the last minute can't really be held against the planner or the itinerary.

[A.J. Bertin]

In my opinion, the meet ended up going just fine. It wasn't perfect (is any road meet "perfect" though?), but one thing that made it an overall success was that Alex was open to suggestions. Steve kinda helped him out. It was a beautiful day and ended up being a lot of fun!

Thanks again, Alex, for hosting this meet! I truly enjoyed myself.

[rickmastfan67]

Beyond us getting stuck on a dirt road with big pot holes going to Exit #15 (which WAS accessible), I think it went off pretty well, especially with us finishing well before the estimated end time. 

We also got REALLY lucky with traffic.  Especially since we didn't have to go onto the Boulevard of the Allies, which WAS backed up really bad as we saw from the Birmingham Bridge when crossing it.

So, great job Alex!

[SSOWorld]

Beyond us getting stuck on a dirt road with big pot holes going to Exit #15 (which WAS accessible), I think it went off pretty well, especially with us finishing well before the estimated end time. 

We also got REALLY lucky with traffic.  Especially since we didn't have to go onto the Boulevard of the Allies, which WAS backed up really bad as we saw from the Birmingham Bridge when crossing it.

So, great job Alex!

So that explains the dirt in Adam's tailpipe.

[Alps]

Beyond us getting stuck on a dirt road with big pot holes going to Exit #15 (which WAS accessible), I think it went off pretty well, especially with us finishing well before the estimated end time. 

We also got REALLY lucky with traffic.  Especially since we didn't have to go onto the Boulevard of the Allies, which WAS backed up really bad as we saw from the Birmingham Bridge when crossing it.

So, great job Alex!

I've driven on worse dirt roads. It was unexpected but no one suffered a flat. So yeah it was a little messy but by far a successful meet. We didn't lose anyone unintentionally.

[noelbotevera]

I write off this meet as an overall success. I was honestly surprised by the overall turnout; I expected no more than 15 people but somehow managed to rake in 21.

I accept responsibility for the fairly messy ending (everyone out by PA 50 rather than back at Homestead), the nightmare that was Cecil Reissing Road (didn't know it was dirt), itinerary errors, and being slightly late to lunch.

But hey - at least we never lost entire cars and everyone actually made it to each stop, with the tour wrapping up a lot earlier than predicted.

Thanks to everyone who's assisted me with writing the itinerary and planning a road meet - who knows, I might try again next year!

[A.J. Bertin]

I write off this meet as an overall success.

I would agree.

I accept responsibility for the fairly messy ending (everyone out by PA 50 rather than back at Homestead), the nightmare that was Cecil Reissing Road (didn't know it was dirt), itinerary errors, and being slightly late to lunch.

It's noble of you to take responsibility for these issues. Honestly though, for your first meet, it went pretty well. You'll learn from these mistakes which means that your next meet will be better!

But hey - at least we never lost entire cars and everyone actually made it to each stop, with the tour wrapping up a lot earlier than predicted.

Absolutely.

Thanks to everyone who's assisted me with writing the itinerary and planning a road meet - who knows, I might try again next year!

I hope you do!

[vtk]

I fell on my face at the US 22 / Tpk 576 interchange, but overall I had a great time