Cyclists will be allowed to ride trail near casino
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Cyclists will again be welcome to ride the trail adjacent to the just-opened Rivers Casino, according to Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato's spokesman.
Bike riders were incensed over the weekend to see a sandwich board sign on the North Shore trail, at the border between the Carnegie Science Center's property and the Rivers Casino's front lawn, reading "Private Property, Please Walk Bikes." The longstanding, popular trail that runs from Washington's Landing to Western Penitentiary was closed for more than a year, and cyclists were anxious to start using it again when casino construction ended.
Legislation passed by Pittsburgh City Council and signed by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in May governing the land in front of the casino guaranteed that the trail would be open as "a public pedestrian walkway and bike path" for as long as they city wanted it to be used as such, except when it has to be closed for construction, improvements, maintenance, emergencies, or when the casino feels use of the trail "may adversely affect safety or security of the public."
After cyclists complained about the walk-your-bikes restrictions, Mr. Onorato's Special Projects Coordinator Darla Cravotta today called casino Community Relations Manager George Matta. "George told us that they are going to change the sign that's there," said county spokesman Kevin Evanto "to something along the lines of, 'Please proceed with caution.' "
"We do not want our customers to be inadvertantly hurt by anybody, or a biker to be hurt," Mr. Matta said. "Yesterday we had thousands of people on the esplanade. We had a concert there. It was opening day.
"We felt that [the sign] was appropriate for the crowd control that we had last night."
Very soon, the language will be changed to urge cyclists to use caution, he said.
Earlier today, Mr. Ravenstahl took the side of the cyclists.
"Many folks in the bicycle community are upset, as well they should be, because that trail should be a point where people can continue to bike," said Mr. Ravenstahl. "I would say that we share the frustration of the cyclist community with that issue. It was our understanding that that would be an area where cyclists could continue to bike.
"We're going to work with the casino to try to get that rectified."
Howard Slomer, a 66-year-old retired computer analyst from Reserve, who bikes area trails several times a week, said he was dismayed on Sunday to see signs requiring that cyclists walk their bikes past the casino.
"I cannot easily walk that distance in bike shoes and I also have a bad knee that makes it difficult to walk and push my bike that distance," he said. He said that when he ignored the signs, a security guard told him to dismount, but he biked on.
Rivers Casino spokesman Dan Fee said the wording on the sign was always viewed as temporary. "It would have helped if the biking community called us to see what the facts were before they started alerting the media," he said.
First Published August 10, 2009 1:54 pm
