Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Vir Bonus
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above was captured on an entirely different day than the two following it, but it makes for a nice ‘establishing shot’ of where this particular walk started out for me. On the evening that this photo was actually captured, I was attending a work event at the Carnegie Science Center that was produced by the Adobe software outfit.
There was a mixer with food and drink, and a presentation about the company’s latest offerings. The mixer part of the night was fun, and I got to meet a few local artists and photographers. We were allowed out onto an elevated terrace at the Carnegie Science Center, one which overlooks the center of things here in Pittsburgh.
Later in the week, when the other shots were gathered – it was a short walk sort of day. After a ride into town on the T light rail, your humble narrator could be observed scuttling down the very road pictured above.
There wasn’t really a game plan for this walk, other than to just keep moving and kick my feet around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Whenever I’m in this area, a visit to the Mr. Rogers memorial occurs.
It’s always a good thing to be reminded that trying to be a good person doesn’t mean that you always are one, but that the most important thing is to try. Everyone is special, in their own way, Mr. Rogers opined. Also, he liked people just the way they are. Try some of that today, I’d suggest. Be kind.
Gosh, the world was a better place with Mr. Rogers in it. It’s no mistake that I wanted to live in his neighborhood (which was actually Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill section where I could not afford to live, I’d mention, but there you are) in this part of my life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This walk was but a part of my plans for the rest of the day. After the effort, Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself would be meeting up with friends back home and attending what turned out to be an incredibly lame ‘Ghost Tour’ of the Dormont suburb that HQ is located in. What the narrative turned out to be was essentially the top five Google hits for ‘unsolved capital crimes in Dormont.’ Disappointing.
Reflecting on Mr. Rogers’ message of positivity, however, the host did her best and brought a group of thirty or so strangers together on a Friday night for fun. Bless.
Back tomorrow 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.
Gradum proximum
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As often stated, I’m fascinated by the parabolas and massing shapes of high speed roads, and the shaping of the overpasses and bridges which carry them. That’s a toll road pictured above, a relatively recent addition to the local milieu in Greater Pittsburgh referred to as the ‘Southern Beltway.’
AKA Pa. Route 576, this is a brand spanking new bit of infrastructure that opened for business in October of 2021.
The totality of this beltway project is staggering in terms of scale and just how long the Pennsylvania State Government has been both planning and slowly building it. The goal of the project is to eliminate a regional choke point in the current setup of high speed/volume roads which interchange in or close to downtown Pittsburgh where traffic density is highest.
To say that it’s a controversial project would vastly understate the ennui which modern day city planners and self described ‘urbanists’ feel towards the process of ‘jamming another highway through already densely populated areas.’
They will then mention Robert Moses disparagingly.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This Southern Beltway is meant to join up with other segments, eventually, and form a ring around Pittsburgh, creating high speed conduits to its satellite cities like PA.’s Uniontown, and connect to interstates leading to several nearby areas in Ohio and West Virginia. I’m told they use electronic tolling up there, but personally I avoid toll roads like the plague, unless there’s absolutely no other choice.
Don’t feel smug or provincial, New Yorkers. Every shred of traffic entering the five boroughs, or Long Island’s two counties, is dependent on the Verrazzano, George Washington, and Triboro bridges. Upper Manhattan, South Brooklyn, and Western Queens are your personal ‘choke points.’ Keep fighting about ‘affordable housing’ and bike lanes though, and ignore this basic delimiter as traffic gets worse and worse in NYC. Blame Uber and Lyft, as it’s politically simpler than building a tunnel connection to I-95 under Long Island Sound, and far cheaper than creating a barge to rail port at JFK airport in Jamaica Bay. There will never be a natural or manmade disaster you will need to get away from.
Keep saying it’s all Robert Moses’ fault.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last shot of the McDonald Trestle from my way back to the car.
It was time to start preparing for a medical procedure which I’d need to endure that was just 48 hours away. Luckily, I got to eat some of the apples and corn I bought at a newly discovered farm stand before this kafkaesque nightmare began, and I had to start a ‘water fast.’
Sucked.
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.
Alta Via
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was a ‘short walk day’ which greeted your humble narrator, on a recent morning, and desire to get out of the City center of Pittsburgh dominated my waking thoughts. A half hour or so’s drive to the nearby community of McDonald, and the confluence of the Montour and Panhandle rail trails, was thereby executed. Along the way I found a farm stand, which had phenomenal apples and some pretty decent sweet corn on sale. Yum.
Pictured above is the McDonald Trestle. I’ve brought you here before, and offered a couple of posts about the location.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Down below, the water is still running orange due to drainage from a historical slag heap that shadows it. One was in need of a quiet and somewhat contemplative scuttle on this particular day, as weighty personal matters would be playing out in the next few days.
A medical procedure was scheduled for the end of this particular week, one which would involve anesthesia, and I was required to do a preparatory ‘water fast’ (amongst other things) for 24 hours in advance of the test. The docs insisted on this one, and I complied, but couldn’t pretend to be happy about it.
This procedure is normal stuff given my age, history, and various other medical conditions. I’m not supplying specifics, but if I describe the procedure as a ‘real pain in the butt,’ you can probably guess what it was that I was going to have to endure just a couple of days after these shots were captured.
Truth be told, the entire thing was just exhausting and no fun at all, but I got see a side of myself otherwise hidden so the ebullient joys of novelty were experienced. It was like that old movie Fantastic Voyage.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator’s lizard brain was busily trying to cook up some excuse or logical reason that would allow me to back out of the procedure, as that inner voice was screaming in terror the whole time. More mature thinking superceded my howling terrors, and I thereby marched gleefully forward into the clutches of the medical enthusiasts. Saying that, knowing that I’d be down and out for a few days afterwards, an attempt to get as much exercise in as I could prior to the oncoming ordeal.
I don’t feel well if I don’t follow my normal exercise patterns.
The normal day on/day off pattern would be broken by the medical situation, however, and the walk pictured today and tomorrow occurred directly following the one you saw last week in the city’s center. This spot is probably no more than 20 miles from the center of things here in Pittsburgh. Urbanity scales away pretty quickly to small towns here.
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.
Vroom vroom
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My ‘long walk’ day had played out fairly uneventfully, which was awesome and exactly what I was hoping for on a beautiful summery day. No close calls with traffic, random interactions with scary people, or anything like that. Great Pittsburgh day, this.
I made it to the trail along the Monongahela River that leads to that brewery I keep mentioning which sits alongside the CSX subdivision tracks, and was heading towards a bubbly glass of reward for my efforts.
Along the way, I couldn’t help but crack out a few shots of the T Light Rail crossing the river on the Panhandle Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been kept busy by the world of late. Lots of stuff to do, obligations to both worldly and ongoing medical drama, and trying to keep my head above water. Busy, busy, busy. It was really nice to not have a time constraint for this walk and I was enjoying every minute of it.
One continued his scuttle, and made it to the brewery where I took up residence at one of the outdoor tables they maintain. Ordered a Pale Ale, which was ice cold, and started waiting for the railroad show to start.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Didn’t take long.
I’m particularly fond of the shot above, which faithful readers of the Newtown Pentacle will tell you I’ve been working on variations of for a while now. There’s a few past iterations of it that I’ve liked, with similar composition and lighting, which I’ve displayed here in the past – but having the T randomly appear behind the CSX #958 as it was negotiating that curve was pure serendipity.
Back next week 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.
Mon Mon Mon
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s always another bridge to cross.
The one pictured in today’s post is the ‘big kahuna’ of Pittsburgh’s bridges, and dubbed the ‘Fort Pitt.’ Given the centrality of its role in how traffic moves through this region, it’s surprising how terrible the design of the traffic interchange on this span is. The bridge leads into the Fort Pitt tunnel, which feeds directly onto an interstate that leads to the South Hills region, and the Pittsburgh International AirPort. There’s also a set of local exit ramps which provide vehicle connections to local streets on the coast of the Monongahela River. The way traffic enters this interchange necessitates an ‘X’ shaped merging pattern, where multiple lines of traffic need to intersect and cross with each other in a relatively short distance. It’s practically a ‘fender bender’ machine, with an inelegant plan and truly lousy signage. Like most of Pittsburgh, you need to know where to position the vehicle before you get there for a successful merge.
‘Vernacular,’ as I refer to it. Pittsburgh is all about vernacular.
Wasn’t my problem, this time around, since your humble narrator was walking rather than driving for a change, but I did take a moment to observe the milieu. If this was back in Queens, I’d be doing something about it, but it’s not and I’m not.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having crossed the Fort Pitt bridge, I was soon high over the shoreline of the Monongahela, which is defined by Mount Washington’s towering precipices. I hung around for a few minutes hoping for a train to hurtle past, but timing wasn’t on my side this particular afternoon.
As often stated – it wasn’t a ‘sit around on a set of stairs and wait day’ instead it was a long walk, so one leaned into it and got moving again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another absolutely awful thing about the Fort Pitt Bridge is the setup greeting pedestrians when they exit the thing.
The bike/pedestrian ramp comes back to ground and merges into a sidewalk about a half mile away near one of the inclines, but there’s a rather concerning set of rusty steel steps to navigate which negate having to go all that way, and said steps deliver you to a sidewalk along a secondary arterial roadway which leads to several bridges and a highway. There’s no barrier between you and the forty mph road, except for the standard three inch curb. Traffic hurtles past.
There’s about a quarter mile worth of this lovely experience, until you encounter a steel rail fence line, that’s easy to step over, which allows entrance to a parking lot adjoining the waterfront trail. From there, you’re safe as houses.
Scary.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 