Posts Tagged ‘Bigelow Boulevard’
Bopping, over Bigelow
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once more unto the breech, and a ‘stretch and shvitz’ kind of exercise day was on my menu.
A rideshare dropped me at the veritable gateway to the Bloomfield Bridge, here in Pittsburgh, and after a moment of personal organization regarding the camera and bags and straps your humble narrator was soon on the move, and scuttling against the inevitability of entropy once again.
The Newtown Pentacle time warp grows ever more severe. These shots were gathered, and the walk perpetrated, on the 13th of August. If my scheduling all works out, you’re receiving this in early October.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One such as myself straight up loves pedestrian bridges like the one pictured above and below, spanning over Bigelow Boulevard, which de facto is an arterial road despite being classed as a ‘local’ one.
This ped bridge has to date back to the 60’s or 70’s – governments just don’t ‘spend’ on pedestrian infrastructure like this anymore. It’s part of why they like bike lanes so much – as the lanes are just paint and plastic sticks (vertical delimiters), which are cheap to install.
Up I went. The sound I made was analogous to that produced at the extreme right hand side of a piano’s keyboard as it is being ‘plinked.’
Bink, bink, bink…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Dynamism, that’s my thing. Every chance I could find to strike a pose on the way up, and then across, was taken. I made the Zoolander face.
It was hot. Really, really hot. High 80’s, with about 70% humidity. It was about 10 or 11 on a Thursday morning when I started this effort, and it was already unbearable out. There was supposed to be a street fair in front of me, but to be honest – that’s just an obstacle – and I had no interest in participating in Bloomfield’s ‘Little Italy Festival.’
The big celebrity draw for that event was the presence of actor Vito Spatafore, who was simply being billed as ‘Vito from the Sopranos.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My plan was to move as quickly as I could through an obstacle course of Pittsburgh’s various geological barriers. Eventually, and as usual, I’d need to get back to the T light Rail somehow to get back to HQ.
I took a lot of pics, but the main motivation for me on this day was to get my heart rate up and then keep it elevated for a few hours.
One was walking a bit quicker than usual, up around three mph, as my normal/comfortable velocity is slightly slower at 2.3 – 2.6 mph.
Yes, I keep track of all that on my phone… metrics. It was a big deal for me, post broken ankle, when I broke through the 2 mph barrier.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The muscles in my legs have hardened up again.
The thighs are iron, the calves bronze, if I do say so myself.
The ankle still hurts all the time, especially so after a long walk. I’ve got arthritis in the affected joint now too. The skinvelope is still oddly discolored around the joint, and it’s not just on the side where the surgical scar is found. Lots and lots of visible blood vessels have also sprung up around the site of the injury, offering the appearance of a spider web of varicose veins. It’s all quite spectacular, really, but as I’m also closing in on the brink of sixty…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One thinks about his calendrical age a lot these days.
I reminisce about my Dad when he was at my current age, and I have to say that – my perception – is that I’m a far younger man – at the same age – than he was. At least I don’t fall asleep behind the wheel at red lights, like the old man used to.
My relatives and friends all point out that this is all perceptual bullshit and self aggrandizement when I utter something like this, gleefully reminding me of all the things medically and psychologically wrong with me, and then end their admonition with that most Jewish of expressions:
‘Shut up, you wanna give call down a conahurra on yourself?’
Back next week with more – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Views via Bigelow Blvd.
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As established last week, your humble narrator could have been observed as scuttling along on Pittsburgh’s Bigelow Boulevard, enjoying views from on high.
The route I was walking is more or less parallel to one which carried me through Lawrenceville (which is down there on the Allegheny River’s flood plain) a few weeks back. That’s the 33rd street rail bridge, btw., for a point of reference on the Lawrenceville walk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a few residential buildings found along Bigelow Boulevard which have stout garage doors facing out onto this de facto highway. There’s an auto detailing shop found further along the route as well, and both on the opposite side of the ‘Polish Hill’ side of the road where I was walking. That’s some door.
For some reason, George Romero and the Pittsburgh incidents of 1968 and 1978 came to mind as to why it seemed so secure and stout.
One continued on his way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every now and then when I’m walking along, I’ll spin 180 degrees and grab a quick shot of where I’ve been. Old habit, it also informs if someone is following me. That happens sometimes. Whether it’s a ‘creature of the street’ or a ‘neighborhood guardian’ or just some maniac junkie who thinks I might be an easy mark, I want to know if I’m being predated.
Of course, I was the only maniac walking down Bigelow Boulevard on a blisteringly hot July day in the late afternoon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
From the look of this structure, my guess would be ‘used to be a car mechanic’s location.’ There were a few businesses located along this stretch, along with a handful of residential buildings. I saw a good number of ‘for sale’ signs affixed to the latter.
One pondered the complexities of sewer and water lines, electrical and telecommunications hookups, and all the complications surrounding the necessities of habitation, as associated with siting a building at the apex of a steep hill that has a high volume road at the front door.
How do you get deliveries? Where can a truck or car pull over to drop a passenger? Is it ever quiet? This is probably where the ‘way’ or alley streets come into play.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cross streets visible from Bigelow Boulevard, which are a part of a neighborhood called ‘Polish Hill,’ offer a few clues. In my own steeply hilled neighborhood, back in the Borough of Dormont, Our Lady and I seldom use our front door when coming and going. The car is in the driveway out back, and we typically use the basement door to access the house from that entrance rather than the one in the front we get mail delivered to. I imagine it’s much the same deal up here. Guessing, though.
The Hill District, long the titular center of Pittsburgh’s African American community, is just next door to Polish Hill on the next elevation, but I never hear the latter described as being a part of it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the path that I was following, a couple of sets of City Steps were observed, and noted. Future scuttles will, I’m sure, incorporate these paths. Saying that, divergence from my path wasn’t on the menu. Too hot for serendipity.
For this one, I had a prepicked turn in mind, which would lead to something else I’ve been keen to take a long hard look at.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Bamming down Bigelow
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pittsburgh’s crazy terrain forced the need for primary and secondary arterial roadways to be carved into and set along cliffs and bluffs, in order to connect the various sections of its metro area. Pictured above is the intersection of Route 380/Bigelow Boulevard and the Bloomfield Bridge. This is a stretch of road which is also part of the ‘Lincoln Highway,’ which predates the Interstate System. To get from ‘a’ to ‘b’ in this section of Pittsburgh, you’ll likely have to pass through this intersection. High volume, high speed.
There’s a sidewalk along it, though, which sits behind a line of jersey barriers. It had been a stressful week, and your humble narrator needed to take a walk that he hadn’t already taken, and every time that I’ve driven through here recently the intrusive thought that I’d like to scuttle through here instead has manifested. That’s the story of how I ended up having a rideshare drop me off here.
The traffic flow is so heavy that there’s a pedestrian bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bridge at the crossing makes sense, and so did that of a second bridge found just a few blocks away, which has had its span and crossing of Bigelow Boulevard removed.
The stairs related ptsd thing which I’ve been experiencing since the busted ankle last September is retreating, thankfully, no doubt due to all the ‘exposure therapy’ that I’ve been subjecting myself to. I should mention that structures like this one have always been favorites of mine – weirdly overbuilt pedestrian only spaces are the rizz.
As mentioned in prior posts, I’ve spent most of the month of July catching up on medical related stuff which got pushed to the side during the ankle adventure. You hit a certain age, Y’see, and the Docs want nothing more than scans and tests to assure themselves of your continuing homeostasis in order to plan the pharmaceutical orders which are meant to vouchsafe said state. It’s all in my best interest, I’m told.
All of these July trial results came back clean and fairly lovely, as a note. It seems that I will continue on for a spell. Need to lose some weight.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unremarkable graffiti was seen everywhere on this passage – tags, political sayings or mottos, and so on. It was a warm day in Pittsburgh, with temperatures in the high 80’s and a dew point humidity level which the local CBS affiliate’s weather chart listed as ‘ridiculous.’ That’s literally a category on their broadcast graphics: ridiculous.
The plan for this outing was to follow Bigelow Boulevard for a bit, then turn off onto Polish Hill, which is an extremely interesting neighborhood with super steep streets. If you follow Bigelow long enough, you run out of sidewalk at one point and then you’ve got at least a half mile of walking on the side of a highway with no barriers or protection. Yikes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The post ankle PTSD thing is worse on descents than ascents, stairs wise. I’ve gotten to the point where I no longer grasp at the bannister with a death grip, and have instead progressed to just floating my hand about a half inch over the bannister while descending. The death grip thing has almost tripped me up a few times.
I will survive this year, if it kills me.
Yeah, that’s kind of my theme song right now.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I wasn’t standing in the middle of the road for this one, as there’s a curb ‘bump out.’ Bigelow Boulevard, and here’s a shot from downtown of it just to get an idea of this road’s scale and setting, is fascinating.
Bigelow is the road on the right hand side of the above linked shot which proceeds down through the trees. There has to be at least a 500 foot change in elevation from the pedestrian bridge to its end, when it comes down to ‘flat’ ground downtown. Bigelow also feeds into a traffic exchange called ‘Crosstown Boulevard’ which allows highway connections to a couple of bridges and the interstate.
This was a ‘full kit’ walk for me, and even though I didn’t end up needing either the umbrella or the tripod (combined, about six pounds), I had them both with me. I also had a bag full of lenses (about eight pounds) that I didn’t end up using either, as this ended up being a zoom lens kind of walk.
Good news is that I carried an unnecessary fourteen pound weight around with me for no good purpose on a super hot day, so exercise!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 24-240mm zoom lens was kind of essential for this walk, as I kept dialing between wide and telephoto the whole time, and it would have been a pain in the neck to be continually switching lenses.
That green colored house caught my eye. It’s pretty typical for Pittsburgh, with the metallic awnings overflying the front porch and windows. Buildings constructed before the ago of air conditioning in this area have all sorts of work arounds for the humidity, with those metal awnings being a commonly observed one.
Back next week with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
From Frank Curto Park
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the routes that I often finding myself driving, here in Pittsburgh, is called ‘Bigelow Boulevard,’ (to the right of the former Pennsylvania RR station in this Flickr shot, just for reference) which is a heavily traveled arterial road that climbs a steep hill, up and away from the downtown area, leading to several neighborhoods found upon the hill’s prominence.
A seemingly seldom used park is set along this road, called Frank Curto park. It’s a fairly high speed road, Bigelow is, and the entrance to the park (which is reasonably reachable by vehicle only) requires one to come to a nearly complete stop in order to execute a sharp right hand turn at low speed. Given the driving habits of the Yinzers, which involve them tailgating you within a yard or so of your bumper, it’s often impossible to slow down or make that turn without the risk of getting smashed into that speeding pickup truck just behind you.
Luckily, I managed to make that turn recently when the traffic behind me got stuck at a light. There’s a road through the park space, and you just sort of pull over onto the grass to park. As mentioned above, the hill here is pretty steep, and commanding views of the Allegheny River side of the Golden Triangle are available for inspection.
For reference, the Heinz Factory is in the fore, and the big white building is Allegheny General Hospital.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator was just passing through, of course, but the opportunity to wave the camera around for a few minutes was taken. This one looks towards the 16th street bridge, and over a bunch of newly constructed housing units in Pittsburgh’s ‘Strip District.’ Beyond that, on the other side of the river is found the ‘North Side.’
Way in the distance, amongst those hills, is the West End Overlook park which I’ve visited repeatedly since moving to Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks directly down the Allegheny River’s ‘triangle side’ shoreline, towards the waterway’s admixture with the Monongahela River which in turn forms the Ohio River. The large bridge span seen at the ‘end of the line’ is the Fort Duquesne Bridge.
My time was limited on this ‘go,’ but I’m definitely going to try and visit this spot again, assuming I can make that sharp ninety degree turn off of Bigelow Boulevard without a tailgater smashing into my car.
Back tomorrow, with something different.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
