Squeaky Wheels: Cyclists, Skaters Call for Bike Lanes

Darren McGinnis was biking to a friend's house in Squirrel Hill when a car pulled out of Baskin Robbins and smashed into his front wheel, sending McGinnis 10 feet through the air.

That's not the only accident he's had. "I was rollerblading to work one day and got run off the road by the police," says McGinnis. "They yelled at me and swore at me for five minutes and then drove away."

McGinnis' experiences, and those of many other injured cyclists, sparked his involvement in two groups working to increase awareness of alternative forms of transportation: Critical Mass and Bike Lanes in Pittsburgh (BLIP).

Critical Mass sponsors bike rides at rush hour on the last Friday of every month. "We ride through the city to show that there's a need to accommodate cyclists into the traffic-flow pattern of the city," says McGinnis. "We take a different route every time so we can get as much exposure as possible."

While Critical Mass concentrates on creating visibility and awareness of cyclists in the community, BLIP organizes for the creation of bike lanes. Right now there is only one bike lane in the city; it loops around Beechwood Boulevard and is primarily used for recreation rather than transportation.

"BLIP focuses on the bureaucratic system and city council. We just started; we've only been meeting for two months," says Marla Ferkett, a BLIP organizer.

"There are lots of students involved," Ferkett adds, "but this is not just a student issue; this is a community issue. We have passed around a petition to give to city council to get on their agenda, but we're trying to get more organizational support through networking before approaching them."

McGinnis says that bike lanes are most needed in the areas radiating our from Oakland, which have a lot of bike traffic -- specifically on Fifth and Forbes.

But Pittsburgh Police Lt. William Bell contends that creating bike lanes on Fifth and Forbes is impractical, since both streets have heavy traffic.

And Pittsburgh, Bell says, is not an ideal place to bike. "A lot of geography around Pittsburgh isn't conducive to bicycling. If you're coming from anywhere but Oakland or the South Side you have big hills to overcome. Not many people want to work up a sweat and then sit in an office for eight hours anyway. Let's face it, the American Dream has never been the bicycle." Bell believes that many streets are already too narrow for bike lanes and that widening these streets would be too costly.

Ironically, another organization committed to alternative transportation -- the Port Authority -- can be a bicyclist's worst enemy, says McGinnis.

"PAT doesn't want to share the transportation business with bikes... Many cyclists have a lot of trouble with buses." McGinnis also criticizes PAT's current ad campaign, which ridicules bicycles, in-line skaters and other alternative forms of transportation.

BLIP members plan to address the City Council in the fall.