Shadyside residents will not be divided by the City of Pittsburgh's approach to put dedicated bike lanes through our residential streets. While the final route has yet to be announced, two routes are actively under consideration: 1) the length of Ellsworth from Craig Street to Highland Avenue (with a connector from Fifth along Morewood); or 2) from Morewood/Castleman along Pembroke, then joining Ellsworth at S. Aiken and ending at Highland Avenue. In either scenario, eliminating ALL street-side parking will significantly impact the businesses, schools, houses of worship, and residents … not only on the proposed routes but the adjacent streets and adjoining cul-de-sacs as well. Since parking is prohibited in bike lanes, It will also severely reduce accessibility for household, yard, contractors, child and health care, and delivery services. Based on their numbers, it is anticipated the Ellsworth route will eliminate nearly 300 parking spaces including those serving homes, apartments, Winchester Thurston, and the Ellsworth business district. Likewise, the proposed route through Castleman and Pembroke would detract from the residential feel and value of those streets and eliminate nearly 100 parking spaces.

At a meeting on May 17th, residents were asked to draw their preferred route, encouraging neighbors to draw their preferred route on "someone else's street." Our neighborhood stands united in its opposition to this approach and opposed to any attempt to destroy the residential feel of our neighborhood.

We support smart transit and bike safety and look forward to working with the City to find alternate methods of creating smart and safe streets for cyclists, while preserving the charm of our community. The current proposals fail these objectives in all regards.

Therefore, the undersigned residents of Shadyside oppose the construction of any dedicated bike lines on residential streets in our community without the full consent and approval of the people that live along and adjacent to the affected areas.