“This crazy plan will destroy our very cherished Strip district. You people are destroying the city and livelihoods. There are plenty of other streets for bike riders who apparently cannot ride their bikes properly. You have set up this mess. Daily, I watch bike riders weave in and out of traffic, go through red lights and perform many dangerous maneuvers. Why don’t you support your tax paying Citizens. Shame on you.”

“It is absolutely foolish to design a street without consideration to emergency vehicles or the needs of the businesses on the strip purely to make it "safer". Has the same amount of time and funding examined the source of these accidents and injuries?”

“Let the bikers go bike on small men Street where there’s a lot more room. The strip is one of our treasures and I always take visitors there. If they reduce the lanes to one lane no one‘s ever going to go there. Maybe the city should take care of roads and infrastructure instead of screwing up the strip district”

“DOMI will kill small business if you let them.”

“Preserve the Strip. I only go there on a weekend and early mornings just because it is already horrible there with traffic and parking, Gainey's proposed plan will make it 10000 WORSE!!!!! Do not let Gainey's woke and progressive agenda to destroy Pittsburgh's legacy in a sake of so called safety. I walk there a lot and never felt in danger, cars do stop to let pedestrians cross, and idiot drivers… they will remain idiots regardless of whatever measures you put. you cant fix stupid, but you can make them accountable by putting law and traffic enforcement officers there on busy times. Create jobs and support businesses, instead of eliminate them.”

“Bike rider here, it's perfectly safe the way it is, stay in the right lane traffic moves slow. These is a terrible idea will make it worse for everyone.”

“Making Penn Ave one lane would be disatrous for all businesses in the Strip as well as those trying to visit and shop.

To reduce speeding why not put speed humps? I feel like the city does everything it can to make the Strip harder to access for visitors and those of us that have businesses here.”

“One lane will back up traffic so much that it will make arriving on time impossible for appointments in The Strip. It will deter me from coming there for shops and services because of even more congestion. Please don’t do it!”

“This would make visiting the strip a less enjoyable experience.”

“The change would ruin the The Strip. Even though it is congested that is what makes the strip the strip. All different kinds of people and food. Please leave it as is. It's an ICON”

“This will not be safe for first responders”

I would rarely go down the strip anymore. I see traffic that's slow as it is already there. The so called DOMI is ruining the city with no turn on reds everywhere when all you do is back up traffic and then talk about helping the environment, lol. Give me a break. Downtown has become insanely long to get from one side to the other wit all timed traffic signals that aren't even in sequence. I pay taxes and registration every year for my car and the clowns are mire worried about bikes, smh. That’s all we ever hear bikes, bikes, bikes, put the bike lane on Smallman then. What clowns we have running this city and I sure as hell wont travel to the strip if traffic is bumper to bumper traffic.

“I have already seen how changes made to the roads have made vehicle traffic the final consideration in places close to where I live in East Liberty (on Euclid Ave. where they have squeezed into what was once a wide road two bike lanes and parking for cars, with hardly enough room for two way traffic as the final consideration).

The city needs to rethink the redesign of these roads. I am all for safety, but the approach the city has taken in many locations is inadequate.”

“There are already bike lanes on smallman. Why do they need to be everywhere? Taking a bike on smallman would get you safely to the same places.”

“What I Believe Y'all Fail To Fully and Completely Understand is Pittsburgh doesn't have multi lane streets wide enough to do what other states do.. Y'all don't understand the complexity of traffic when one thing goes wrong in any given area. Also we have bridges everywhere, thus you can't just go into multi lanes without there being enough room as is.. please stop doing what doesn't work for the collective population..”

“There are already enough bike lanes. It's 5 mph, bikers should be able to drive with traffic at that speed. Nobody wants a bike lane there. It's unnecessary. Plus they have no respect for people who are walking. They still need to stop at lights and intersections but with bike lanes they seem to think they can just zoom.
There is no way that emergency vehicles would be able to respond in a timely manner, if at all. Those are older buildings and receive lots of visitors, if there were an emergency it is important that first responders are able to access the area quickly.
If you want to do something for the bikers make, do like Detroit, where they have pedestrian and bike over passes that cross over the traffic instead of across the roads.
Also, I know I wouldn't want to deal with all that traffic in one lane for the weekend. I'd be more likely to go somewhere in the north or avoid it altogether.”

“I’m sick of bike lane scars around city!

Bike riders can become rude to motorists in some cases they have actually punched my car when they became angry!

You do this and I PERSONALLY WILL NEVER VISIT THE STRIP!!!”

“This would make visiting the strip district unbearable. This would definitely make me not visit nearly as much.”

“I don’t know who came up with this ridiculous plan. Logic will tell you that this will be a complete cluster mess up. The bike lanes have created chaos throughout the city. Our streets are narrow enough without having to worry about bikers who do not follow the rules.”

“This will ABSOLUTELY kill the business in the Strip!!
Leave things ALONE”

“I understand the want to improve safety and traffic, but this is absolutely not taking into account the needs of the business OR visitors. A method that works in one city will not always work in another, and ignoring the habits and needs of the people who populate the area will work against the businesses there. The Strip District is such a beloved area of Pittsburgh that is slowly being eroded by big chain businesses, and this would just further people’s frustrations.”

“Quit trying to gentrify everything”

“I avoid Penn Ave DT since they changed that to accommodate bikes. I parked outside that zone and walk to theater and other DT events. Wonder what the stats are for the number of bikes compared to cars travel those 9 blocks per day? Emergency/first responders access? Passengers exit car into a bike lane, and we parallel park into a bike lane? Nuts! Lots of Bikers don't obey traffic rules now. Weaving thru traffic, riding up the passenger side of traffic to get ahead. Shutter to think how they're going to stop for pedestrians crossing a bike lane to get into a store or onto the sidewalk.”

“I’ve been visiting the Strip for 50 years and appreciate the history and legacy of the businesses there. The traffic lights need an upgrade with better pedestrian signals, but it would be terrible to restrict Penn Ave to one lane”

“No more bike lines, especially in the strip district”

“Please do no ruin the strip!!!!!”

“Terrible idea. This needs to be scrapped.”

“This is a terrible and unjust idea. Scrap it.”

“I work downtown and I am a frequent Strip shopper. I oppose this plan. Bike lanes are incredibly underutilized in Pittsburgh due in part to the demographics (elderly, out of shape) and the weather (pretty bad almost always). While it would be nice to pretend that Pittsburgh is a groovy city that embraces bike lanes, and that folks will all of a sudden use them, we know that’s not true, eyeballing how little the existing lanes are used, and the Strip certainly is simply not conducive to bike traffic, given that people are shopping and carting off big bags of purchases. Yes, traffic is tight but making a single lane will exacerbate the problem. Please reconsider.”

“If it's not broken don't fix it!! Leave the Strip alone!!”

“I've been coming to the Strip since I was 6 years old, food shopping on Saturday morning with my dad. Now I am proud to work in the strip. The proposed change would kill off a lot of businesses that are already seeing change due to gentrification. This change would add way too much traffic to the area and its just not needed. Commuters to the office buildings in the Strip deal with enough traffic just to get here we don't want to sit in traffic just to get out of the Strip.”

“This change is terrible for the businesses, motorists, first responders, fire equipment,
all for a bike lane. Really?”

“Safety should remain paramount, I.m concerned of the access for emergency vehicles.”

“I live 20 minutes away and work 5 minutes love visiting it. I grew up going the strip district and I’d hate to see it hurt.”

“This will make the strip more dangerous for pedestrians. The way traffic is configured currently is perfect. If it ain't broke, don't "try" to fix it.”

“Would it not make more SENSE to reroute the bikers!!!!!!”

“The Strip is already bad for traffic. This will make it impossible and will likely result in us not coming to the Strip often which would be heartbreaking since it's one of our favorite places nearby to shop.. Our city doesn't have enough bike commuters year round for this to make sense. The number of cars to bikes is extremely disproportionate.”

“We love the strip district. We are from central Pa and visit 6 to 10 times a year. Isn't there already a bike lane on Smallman Street that was just finished? Please save the strip!!!!!!”

“No disrespect but this is an absolute idiotic idea. It's already hard enough making your way through the strip in order to shop now you want to relegate it to one lane only? Please don't do this.”

“We visit the strip every weekend. Parking is so minimal. People cannot even a day at the Strip district anymore. Another reason to move out of the city!”

“We don’t need more bike lanes! They’re rarely used and seem to create more problems than they solve. In fact, I believe they worsen safety by obstructing emergency vehicles. What we really need is properly marked parking spaces to make better use of the available spots. I’ve been coming to the Strip for over 50 years, and it’s disheartening to see the gentrification that's eroding the history and culture that made the Strip so special.”

“It is a dreadful idea to increase congestion just to accommodate a dedicated bike lane. Bike lines should be on the sidewalk like in European cities i.e. Berlin, Germany – not on the street.”

“Democrats destroy everything they touch. Democrats want everyone to be as miserable as they are. Leave the Strip alone you already —- it up enough. We don't need a —- bike lane. —- the bikes.”

“It’s hard enough maneuvering through the strip district with two lanes and now you want to eliminate that and take it to one. That is the worst thing this city can do. This will severely impact merchants in the area. Bike lanes are stupid in my opinion.”

“I live 5mins from the Strip and frequent there for groceries and more. Condensing those blocks down to single lanes, in the name of safety, feels like a cop-out. If anything, bottlenecking such a popular and important part of town is boneheaded.”

“The strip district flourishes with residents, private businesses and large businesses, and visitors that travel from out of town to visit. Mayor’s Plan to Restrict Penn Ave to a Single Lane Road will Stifle Access, Impede Emergency Vehicles, Hinder Residents, and Devastate Local Business.”

“Do not change Penn Avenue. You're building businesses in the Strip, like the Terminal, to attract people downtown but parking is horrible and traffic is horrible. If you eliminate a driving lane on Penn Avenue it will only become much worse. I enjoy visiting the Strip year-round and take family and friends there, but changing Penn Avenue will make me reconsider visiting there in the future.”

“The local government, businesses, and residents should have the final say in changes made to their neighborhood. The city works for us, not the other way around.

Please listen to the concerns of the community and the letters of opposition.”

“I drive throughout city all day everyday. Every neighborhood these useless sticks put in streets to illuminate lanes change traffic patterns and create bike lanes have done nothing but create complicated traffic patterns leading to backups frustrating drivers leading to more dangerous situations. On Penn Ave there is already painted bike signs on street the bikes don't need there own lane. The strip is a delivery area, produce & Buisness. You forget plenty of trucking along river plenty of strip businesses with trucks and loading docks, have you drove Penn Ave? At rush hour? What's next are you gonna suggest drones for delivery?? These people trying to turn this area into a recreational park are out of touch, out of line and not realistic!

“There are a few simple ways in which Penn Avenue could be improved, none of which include making it a single lane. Additional lighting and highlighting crosswalks would be the easiest way to reduce the concerns of night time accidents. As a visitor who walks to and from the Strip District multiple times a month, I have rarely, if ever, felt concerned with safety. However, walking to and from is preferred because of the congestion that already exists. It goes against common sense to reduce the traffic to one lane and increase congestion in that area.”