Squirrel Hill Bike Plan

The Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition’s Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee is developing a Bicycling Master Plan for Squirrel Hill. We see this as a broad overview and basis for discussion with the Squirrel Hill and bicycling communities.

Our focus is on routes in and through Squirrel Hill that form a useful transportation network. Routes in adjacent neighborhoods are included where our plans need to mesh with theirs. Mostly this means nearby routes we might connect to, but the routes along the Mon are important because they connect the SW and SE corners of Squirrel Hill and provide connection to the GAP. We recognize that there are other recreational mountain biking routes in Schenley and Frick Parks, but we omit those in the interest of simplicity.  If someone wants to create a new layer for recreational mountain biking, we can add that.

Target demographic

Planners recognize four kinds of bicycle riders: “strong and fearless”, “enthused and confident”, “interested but concerned”, and “no way no how”. This plan identifies routes that will appeal to the enthused and confident and (especially) will attract the interested and concerned to bike more.

The Map

• Yellow line designates Squirrel Hill boundary.
• Existing bike routes (green): the principal paved routes
• Existing unpaved main routes (blue): the trails that are useful for getting from place to place (I did not include mountain biking trails in parks, for example)
• Bike routes in planning or design (red/orange)
• Missing links (purple): places we really should have routes to complete the network
• Hot spots (numbered): high-priority problems, often safety issues, that need specific attention
  1. 5 points intersection at Forward, Murray, and Pocusset needs to be redesigned for safety of all users.
  2. Schenley Park stoplight (9 points) intersection suffers from high speeds on Panther Hollow Rd/Hobart St, two uncontrolled turning ramps near the stoplight, junctions with Overlook Rd and several trails that are close to (but not directly part of) the intersection, and lack of marked crosswalks (nor good locations for them) on Hobart or Beacon.
  3. The loss of the bike connection between Panther Hollow Lake and the Junction Hollow Trail disabled a popular commuting route. A legal crossing is a priority.

An interactive version of this map with further descriptions of various trails and plans is available here.

If you have comments about this plan, or would like to participate in the SHUC Bike-Ped committee, please email ped_bike@shuc.org.