Posts Tagged ‘Open Streets PGH’
Open Streets Lawrenceville
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in late July, Out Lady and I attended the ‘BikePGH’ group’s ‘Open Streets Lawrenceville’ event.
As is usual with such promotions, a multi mile stretch of city streets were blocked off to vehicular traffic, and a festival atmosphere promulgated.
This one played out on ‘Butler Street,’ which is kind of the ‘main drag’ for this area, and these ‘Open Streets’ continued on and into the Strip District, where Smallman Street was similarly closed to non human powered vehicles.
As is usually the case, the people who yell the loudest about motor vehicles on the road ‘harshing their buzz’ are the same ones who ride their bikes about with impunity, and we pedestrians were still largely consigned to sidewalks or the empty parking lanes along the curbs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Old man yelling at passing cloud, that’s me.
We had a nice time. Our Lady hadn’t explored this section yet, and she was excited about a few things along the route, which she plans on returning to in the future when I’m not there to glower. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant along the route, dubbed ‘Industrial Publick House,’ which I’d guess as wanting to be described as being a ‘gastropub.’
I don’t even know if that’s still a thing, gastropub, but there we are.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was hot, which isn’t surprising given that it was late July. If you’re able to recall the summer despite everything, you may remember that the eastern half of the nation was in the grip of high heat and humidity, which was followed by vast thunderstorm systems transiting through, which ended up barreling across the continent. This was ‘then.’
I’m used to the ‘shvitz,’ given my habit of scuttling through and over and around things in all sorts of climate, but Our Lady was definitely not happy about the weather. One thing about walking down the middle of a street is that there is no tree cover, and the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself is staring right down at the top of your noggin.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Our goal was to use the Light Rail to get back to HQ and Moe the Dog, but we had a couple/three miles to walk – in the sun – and just after having finished a meal. Grin and bear it, mustn’t grumble… Our Lady is British, and absolutely brimming with cheerful aphorisms for tough times.
She doesn’t sing rhyming songs in bars, I’d mention.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
31st street, and I was still married.
Our Lady was reconsidering everything by this point, so I decided not to throw in an ‘it’s all downhill from here’ crack. Luckily, we had both brought water bottles with us.
On and on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
16th street, and still married.
Eventually, we arrived at a T Light Station about 3/4 of a mile away from this bridge. Air conditioning on the T, and a quick return ride to Dormont saw my relationship status continue to improve.
By the time we got back to Moe, I was ‘in like Flynn’ again, and her hatred of walking the hot summer streets in baking sun had abided.
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.
Open Streets PGH, too
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Pittsburgh’s Armstrong Tunnel, opened for inclusion in the ‘Open Streets PGH’ event, is pictured above. A 1927 vintage inclusion to Pittsburgh’s street grid, it’s named for a director of Public Works who would later serve his community as Pittsburgh’s Mayor, and then as Commissioner of Allegheny County at the start of the 20th century.
Who knew?
Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself retracted our umbrella’s canopies back into the ‘ready’ position and entered the underground. This open streets dealie is something organized by the local chapter of ‘the Bicycle People.’ I’m on record calling out the ‘bicycle people’ as being generally caustic and acting like total dicks, but I’m scarred from interaction with a particularly toxic group of them back in NYC’s Queens.
There was a cool vibe in the air, here in Pittsburgh, although the many Cops observed along the route didn’t look too happy. Saying that, do Cops ever look happy when they’re in uniform?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Marching through the tunnel was uneventful, except for when I stopped to grab a shot and some kid who wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings walked right into me, but that wasn’t a big deal at all as he was a tiny fellow.
There’s meant to be two more of these Open Streets events in 2024, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make it to them. Anytime you can walk in the street and not get squished by a car – I’m down.
The Armstrong Tunnel deposits visitors on a normally busy quite and somewhat high speed roadway, at an intersection leading to the South Tenth Street Bridge that connects to the South Side Flats neighborhood on the other side of the Monongahela River. The Downtown section we had just walked through is part of the peninsular ‘Golden Triangle’ section which sits between ‘The Mon,’ Ohio, and Allegheny Rivers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the South Tenth street bridge, pictured above, which we proceeded upon. A quick couple’s scuttle soon found us enjoying a pint of beer at a local brewery, whereupon we indulged in a bit of laziness and summoned a cab to carry us back to HQ rather than using the light rail. It was pouring rain by this point in the day.
As a note – Breweries are a ‘thing’ here in Pittsburgh. There’s also a significant number of establishments which specialize in locally brewed Mead. Not my cup of tea, that – too sweet.
Upon our return, Moe the Dog rejoiced.
“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.
Open Streets PGH
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A nonprofit outfit here in Pittsburgh, dubbed ‘Open Streets PGH,’ offers an event a few times a year wherein the normal ebb and flow of vehicular traffic through the city is halted, and a route is offered to the public for bike and pedestrian usage.
Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself decided to check out and participate in the event, which occurred on a particularly dreary and rain choked weekend day.
The particular route for this outing involved us getting to ‘Downtown,’ whereupon it snaked through the business district and over to the normally vehicle focused Armstrong Tunnel. This led us to a crossing of the Monongahela River over the South Tenth Street Bridge, which would put us in the South Side Flats ‘zone.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m still learning ‘what’s what,’ and ‘where’s where,’ but pictured above is Pittsburgh’s ‘Bridge of Sighs.’ One side of the street is the court house, whereas the other used to be a jail, and prisoners would be marched to their court dates along the corridor housed within that bridge over the street, hence the colloquial cognomen.
As you’ve likely noticed, one opted for use of a wide angle 16mm lens on this excursion. I was traveling light, partially because it was raining, and had my ‘bag of primes’ with me rather than any of the zoom lenses.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Armstrong Tunnel, dug into a landform called ‘The Bluff,’ which Duquesne University sits atop. The tunnel leads to the northern shoreline of the Monongahela River, and it’s been undergoing rehabilitation related construction for pretty much the entire interval that I’ve been living in Pittsburgh.
Tomorrow, what it looks like within the tunnel, and on the other side.
“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.
