GAP status update?
 

I'm planning to ride DC to Pitt. this April or May and am wondering what state the GAP is in on the Pittsburgh end. Current detours, things to avoid, etc.. I want to end my ride @ Point State Park.

'Preciate it. :beer:

Googled: the GAP in Pittsburgh

yields: http://www.atatrail.org/[/URL]

"Welcome ....the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) rail-trail offers 141 miles of hiking and biking between Cumberland, MD, and Homestead, PA, near Pittsburgh. In Cumberland, the GAP joins the C&O Canal Towpath, creating a continuous trail experience, 325 miles long, to Washington, DC. The final mile from Homestead to Pittsburgh is still under construction. Check Trail Construction Status for updates."

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Great_Allegheny_Passage - their official yahoo group page, often with updates.

Yes, thank you, but I'm already well aware of their site and how to use Google. It tends to be out of date most of the time...

Thank you.

Not sure what kind of answer you expect from folks, being that it's early February, Punxsatawney Phil (who lives nearby the GAP) just saw his shadow, the area is in the hills as well as snow belt from Lake Erie and chances are nobody's been riding what is probably a wet and muddy trail.

SB

I know PA well enough though to realize that the weather will be drastically different then, that's not what I'm asking about. What I don't know is Pittsburgh streets and the actual construction status at the end of the GAP, i.e. how close to, or how far into Pitt. it goes (the website seems to always be several months behind actual progress) and the best detour to take to get to the Point.

Through Facebook postings the GAP folks have shown pictures of construction and stated that the "last mile" near Sandcastle water park will be complete by April 15. Once that is complete then you'll have smooth sailing. There isn't a trail section in Downtown Pittsburgh so if you intend to get to the Point then there's maybe a half mile or so of riding on the street.

Lots of people ride the Heritage Trails on the South Side of Pittsburgh. I haven't ben to the end of the trail for about two months, but the last time I was there I saw no sign of construction at the scrap yard. The next time I get there, I'll post a picture.

Facebook.... I never thought to see if GAP had a FB page.

Thanks, fellas.

We're riding the GAP in late June and have been watching the Pittsburgh construction closely, I believe it's slated for an April completion date. Check out the GAP facebook page for latest updates, it's much more up to date than the ATA site. There are pictures of the ongoing construction around Sandcastle and its nice to see evidence of progress.

While studing Google maps with the bicycling directions turned on I see an alternate path to Point Park that runs along the southern shore of the mon river. Using street-view in Google maps it looks like you can cross the bridge right next to the park and ride directly the park, thus avoiding downtown Pittsburgh. I have not been able to confirm this in any way other than observing cyclists captured in the street-view photo's so I don't know how official this alternate connection is.

Keep an eye out for posts from user Spinaker on the forum, he's very knowledgeable about the Pitt end of the trail and is very helpful.

I am planning a mid-April ride on the GAP as part a PGH-PHL tour. Note that there is one tunnel that typically does not open until April 10th, and the web site says there is no easy was around it.

Phil has predicted an early spring. Let's hope he's right this year.

DCwom: I believe Google Maps is incorrect. The interactive map for the Heritage Trail shows it crossing the Mon via the Smithfield St. bridge:

http://map.friendsoftheriverfront.org/

You're correct. One can cross the Smithfield Street bridge near Station Square but riders still have to take city roads for a short ways to Point State Park. The streets are fairly well signed.

DCwom, I think you are looking at the Fort Pitt Bridge. Yes, you are correct - you can cross that bridge and enter directly into Point State Park without really riding in traffic - I've ridden across it several times. The only downside to using this bridge is that the walkway is a bit on the narrow side with the intrusion of the bridge superstructure taking up space. I don't think it would be a problem with panniers but it might be an issue with a trailer.

Coming from the Cumberland side, you would ride past the Hot Metal and the Smithfield Street bridges on the south side of the Mon. Staying on the walkway, you would ride past Station Square, past the Gateway Clipper tour boats, past the Sheraton Hotel and it's parking lots, and past the new soccer field. You then make a 180 degree turn onto the sidewalk of West Carson Street and then onto the bridge (DON'T RIDE ON THE ACTUAL STREET OF WEST CARSON).

Here's the route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5813362

Having said that, I ride the streets in the city often enough and find that taking the lane and riding down Ft. Pitt Boulevard to Commonwealth is not too bad much of the time (rush hour might be different, though). This second route gives you a very nice view of the city from the Hot Metal Street Bridge (stop for a photo!).

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5813376

Here are links to Bike Pgh's bicycling maps of Pittsburgh:

http://bike-pgh.org/bike_map/BikeMap4_east_small.pdf

http://bike-pgh.org/bike_map/BikeMap4_west_small.pdf

The "East" map will show the connection from GAP to the Heritage Trail System and the "West" has downtown Pittsburgh around the Point on it. You can pick your route using these. These maps clearly show that the Fort Pitt Bridge is a marked bike route (on the walkway, that is).

DCwom, I just looked at your post again and noticed the tandem bike symbol. I think taking a tandem on the Ft. Pitt bridge might be an issue because of the length of the bike. Maybe someone else can chime in with their thoughts, if they've ridden that way.

Altair 4 - great maps and description. Thank you. I've never tried the Fort Pitt Bridge before. I like your Hot Metal Bridge directions and photo suggestions, however.

Tyoungs, I ride around the 'Burgh on the Heritage Trails a lot and I'll take the Ft. Pitt route now and then to just mix things up a bit. I see you are in Pittsburgh, too. You can pick up a paper copy of the Bike-Pgh map at many bike stores in the area. I got mine at REI in the South Side. I've given away copies a couple of times to people new to Pittsburgh that I've met on the trails. One of those random acts of kindness things....

See ya 'round the trails!

You would really be best to start at Station Square / Duquesne Incline parking lot and not the actual point. The parking lot is directly across the river from the point and imho, one of the best places to view the city in the region. There is free parking at the lot, if you have people dropping you off. Assuming the trail is finished in April, it will be a straight shot to Mckeesport from the parking lot.


April is too early in my opinion. The trail could still be mushy from the winter melt. The project to complete the last bit is due to complete in April but it has been delayed many times before so it may not be finished in April.


Post back when we get closer in. If I have the day off I will be happy to show you around the city, including taking you to our bicycle museum (assuming I have the day off). I also have a detour for you if the path is still not complete. You are welcome to stay here the night before, if I am in town, just PM me. I live very c;ose to the airport if you are flying in. Actually you have the option of flying in, then jumping on your bike and take the new trail from the airport to the Montour trail. There is a campsite a short distance from the airport (maybe 8-10 miles). The Montour would bypass the city entirely but add about a day to your trip.

I just got back from a conference in Orlando. It looked to me like a pretty ugly place in which to ride. You are going to be blown away by the beauty along the GAP.

Altair 4 - The family purchased an annual membership for me at Christmas in Bike Pgh and the map came with the membership. I'll have to take a closer look at the map. Thanks.

I just saw this on Yahoo Groups:
What a monumental achievement! I'll post more as updates become available.

How mushy is mushy? I would really like to do it (GAP, not C&O) mid-April, after the tunnel opens. I'll be heading to Italy in late May for a week of road riding think a loaded ride from PGH to PHL would be good training. From Cumberland, I would head north and pick up PA Bike Route S in Bedford.

Ar you familiar with Cream of Wheat? :) OK it might be quite not that bad but the trail will very likely be be soft. I would rather climb all day.

Here's to hoping for an early melt and a stretch of warm, dry weather.

Another Pittsburgh rider checking in. I'm often riding along the McKeesport-Pgh section, in fact last week I rode that route twice. I'd like to echo Spinnaker's good offer, if you need an escort from Pgh-BostonPA, let me know - vbush90@gmail.com

I've ridden DC-Pgh and PGh-DC a few times. Here's what I can tell you about right now today, and probably a fair estimate of late April to mid-May. The GAP will be soft in the spring.

When you get to Boston, PA, the scenic packed limestone ends, and the last 24-ish miles to Pittsburgh are (generally) paved and urban. There's a few stretches that aren't very well marked, but they are marked and the websites (atatrail.org) generally have good descriptions. Two thoughts: if you have a GPS, download a track from somebody who's been there; if you get disoriented, just Stop. Generally, a local bicyclist will pass by and help. We've been guiding a lot of touring riders between McKeesport and Pgh.

The towns between McKeesport and halfway to Pgh are post-industrial steel towns. McKeesport, Duquesne, Whittaker, Homestead - they're tough places, a lot of poverty, not take-a-picture towns. I've never had a problem there in daylight, and I don't think we've ever heard of a bicyclist on the route having a problem - and I've been paying attention since 94. So you pass through dingy poor towns, stay on the route and be intelligent and we don't see problems.

In McKeesport you ride a bit of trail and then a bit of street to the Marina, then it's back on the street past the newspaper and back onto a trail. It is marked, it's not marked very well, and if you get puzzled you should just ask directions.

From there you join paved and fenced trail, you cross the Mon River, and it's a very nice paved trail north past an amusement part (Kennywood) and up to a development called the Waterfront in Homestead. The Waterfront has hotels on the trail, all sorts of stores, you'd think you were in Northern Virginia. Up until now, most people stopped riding in Homestead - but this year, IMHO more people will be going to Pittsburgh proper.

From the Waterfront you're going to ride on bike-lane sidewalks up to a waterpark, Sandcastle. Right now they're building the trail between Sandcastle's roadway and the railroad, it's going to be excellent. They are actively moving stuff and building and it's very exciting.

This is a 5-day old photo of the work at Sandcastle, they're moving all the light poles to make space for the trail and the road:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=299879

After Sandcastle, in previous years we broke the law and walked our bikes along the railroad tracks behind Keystone Metals. Right now, they're building a tremendous elevated trail segment along Keystone Metals, and that takes you beyond the "GAP in the G-a-P" and you're back on Easy Street.

This is a 5-day old photo of the new trail being built at Keystone Metals, the poles will support a wall separating the trail from the recycling yard:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=299880

You ride the paved Baldwin Borough Trail to another new development, SouthSideWorks. There's two hotels, restaurants, and an REI. There's also the Hot Metal Bridge and now you have choices.

The first point is, if you've reached the HotMetalBridge you've ridden to Pittsburgh. The bridge has it's own bike lane, go out to the middle of it, get your picture taken with the skyline behind you, and you could say: I've ridden to Pgh and then go back to your hotel at SouthSideWorks.

Option Two is to continue North on the same side of the river, up to Station Square and take the FortPitt bridge which has a walking ramp. There are two snug turns on this ramp for a bike with panniers, so maybe you go slow or stop. I do NOT think you'd want to ride a tandem across the Ft.Pitt bridge because of those two left-90-right-90 turns. Also, it is a climb to get across this bridge. After crossing the Ft.Pitt bridge, the ramp takes you down into PointStatePark which is the spiritual and visceral touchstone of Pittsburgh, take your picture at the Point and you're done, go to your downtown hotel or back over to the Station Square hotel. This image shows what that looks like:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=299885

Option Three from SouthSideWorks is to cross the HotMetalBridge and then ride the paved Eliza Furnace Trail, which Pittsburghers call the Jail Trail up to Grant Street. Although the plans call for an eventual transition with a yet-to-be-built ramp to the MonWharf (don't ask), most riders will ride on a sidewalk-trail down to Smithfield Street, and then go via the streets for about ten blocks to get to Point State Park.

The people in charge of construction at Sandcastle will be done on April15th, because they have to have their work done by that date to meet the terms of the agreement with Sandcastle. The new KeystoneMetals trail will be open sometime after that. We expect a "soft opening" when they're complete. There's a big smash planned in June, that's a padded date to allow for surprises.

For the record, right now a hundred bicyclists a day are making the unauthorized, informal kludge ride through Sandcastle's roadway and walking along the railroad tracks. I go through there once or twice a week, and I always see other cyclists doing the same thing. If you get there before the new sections are open, follow one of them through if you're so inclined.

The signage is poor in McKeesport and in the HotMetalBridge-PointStatePark corridor, but to be fair it's because they're just now getting the route finished, and they've been waiting to get the final route established to update the signage. We've been told to expect a lot of new signs/markings this summer.

And so, that's what I can tell you about riding from DC to Pgh this April-May. Again, if you get a bit uncertain as to navigation, (1)stop and ask, (2)wait for a bicyclist because there's a lot of us riding through there. And if you want somebody to ride with you, post a request on either the GAP Yahoo group or on the bike-PGH message forum and I think you'll be happy with the results.

That's the longest response I've ever written. vbush90@gmail.com

For my next thesis, can I mention the Montour Trail transition? When you're in Boston PA, about 24 miles from Point State Park if you ride via the GAP, you can deviate west and join the Montour Trail. (see MontourTrail.org for details).

There is a gap of about six miles between Boston and when the Montour Trail is actually a trail, and those six miles of "future trail" have been sources of great frustration for the unprepared. From Boston PA, you can ride the detour and the Montour Trail and the Montour-Airport connector, and in about 54 miles you'll be at the Pittsburgh Airport.

The Montour Trail is beautiful. It's not developed, it's not commercial, it's very pretty and an excellent surface. It's just not complete to Boston PA yet, it's still a work in progress.

Using the Airport Connector, which lets bikes on an old joint-use airport service road, you can ride your bike right up to the terminal entrance, it's pretty cool.

Last year I encountered several groups of non-Pgh bicyclists who were starting their Pgh-DC ride at the airport, and a few of them were pretty unhappy at the six-mile interruption at the Montour-GAP connection. It's just not finished yet, and these folks were misinformed.

So if you're riding from DC to Pgh and you get to Boston, you've got 24 miles to ride to PointStatePark, or about 54 miles to ride to get to the Pittsburgh Airport via the Montour Trail.

Fort Pitt bridge and tandem
 

Good to know about the tight turns, although we could probably negotiate then by dismounting and doing a "wheelie" like we've done in elevators.

++ on the very detailed write-up.

Ft. Pitt Bridge is not all that tight. You just need to slow to get around some of the turns. Not to mention that there could be people coming from the other direction.

And oh if you cross the Ft. Duquense Bridge from Pittsburgh to North Side, just be careful as you may have a rude awakening as you roll down the stairs at the other side. :)

And I would suggest that visitors cross over to the North Side. First there is the ballpark, the Mexican War streets with their beautiful homes and most important is Bicycle Heaven. A bicycle museum that has to be seen to be believed.