2-way bike lane to be added to Charles Anderson Bridge during closure

PITTSBURGH — There are two inbound lanes for car traffic on the closed Charles Anderson Bridge, but a newly approved plan would change that. The plan approved by the Mayor’s Office would eliminate one inbound lane to accommodate a two-way bike lane.

The city’s decision received mixed reviews from people 11 News spoke with on Wednesday.

Some people we spoke with said an additional bike lane just isn’t necessary for such a high-traffic area.

“There is a very large sidewalk here and a very large sidewalk on the other side. It’s not really needed,” said Ward Troetschel, an avid biker and resident.

Others say it’s important to share the road with all commuters.

“It’s nice to bike to campus. It would be nice to take the long way across the bridge and it would definitely be safer,” said Tyler Rudich, a college student and resident.

Despite being a biker, Troetschel still wasn’t for a bike lane, mainly because of safety. The posted speed limit is 35 mph, but, according to him, drivers go much faster.

“Not needed and probably not safe because there are way too many people coming up the Boulevard of the Allies probably 50 miles an hour,” Troetschel said.

College students Tyler Rudich and William Vandergheynst said the exact opposite and argued a bike lane will make space for a safer commute.

“Cars have to get in the left lane and swerve around bikes,” said Vandergheynst.

Rudich added, “[Right now] it’s almost impossible. You can’t ride a bike on the bridge.”

According to the city, when the bridge reopens, there will be one inbound lane for cars and the other lane will be a two-way bike lane. There will be no changes to outbound traffic.

The mayor’s office provided this statement:

“During preliminary engineering of the Charles Anderson Bridge rehabilitation project traffic patterns were closely analyzed and it was determined that peak inbound traffic volumes are significantly less than the peak outbound traffic volumes. Given these traffic patterns, the project engineers are confident that the removal of the single inbound lane will not create traffic issues.

This decision was made based on the above analyses, combined with feedback the city received from constituents during a number of public meetings that were held during the same time. And the plan was originally announced during a January 2022 update,” said Emily Bourne, Press Officer, Office of the Mayor.

The bridge repairs, including the new addition of the bike lane, will not be completed for another three years. The bridge will remain closed during the entire project.

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