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Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Jon Smith of Banksville has a few suggestions for making the new bus shelters less of a view-blocker for motorists and pedestrians.

	Jon Smith stands along Noblestown Road in a bus shelter that blocks the view of motorists leaving a nearby supermarket. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

"Create a clear strip about a foot wide through the middle of the [advertising] panel that would allow a driver to see what's coming up or down the road," said Smith, 66, a retired title searcher.

Smith, a member of the Allegheny County Transit Council, a state-mandated citizens advisory board to the Port Authority, also suggested:

Moving the shelters about five feet back from the road.

Making the top-to-bottom ads narrower.

Angling the shelters.

McKees Rocks Mayor Jack Muhr had a more forceful response to last month's column about bus shelters that are visual obstacles.

"They're illegal," Muhr said. "You're not allowed to block a motorist's view."

He appears to be correct.

Joan Nissley, a Harrisburg-based spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said regulations prohibit signs that "obstruct or interfere with the driver's view of approaching, merging or intersecting traffic."

And that's exactly what some of the new bus shelters do, Post-Gazette readers said in e-mails and phone calls to Post Your Problems.

Patricia Airesman of Westwood, a western Pittsburgh neighborhood, said "two of the worst" view-blocking bus shelters are at the upper and lower entrances to the Shop 'n Save supermarket on Noblestown Road near her home.

Kay Graham agreed.

"There have been a few close calls there already," said Graham, who lives nearby.

"There is a good bit of traffic coming both ways on Noblestown Road and this has always been a difficult place to get out of, even before the shelter windows were blocked with advertisements.

"Why can't the people who put the shelters there see that they need to be kept clear for the safety of motorists?"

And, for that matter, the safety of Port Authority passengers who use them at night.

One woman, who asked for anonymity, said she uses the Port Authority "almost exclusively" for her transportation needs. She sometimes has to catch a bus after 11 p.m.

"If you are sitting in a shelter, you can't see people on the street approaching the shelter," she said. "The ad in the shelter obscures the view of the street. Bottom line: It just doesn't feel safe or give people the opportunity to be aware of their surroundings."

Lisa M. Bowie said a bus shelter at Dallas and Hamilton avenues in Homewood makes it difficult to make a right turn from Dallas onto Hamilton. She wants the shelter's advertising panel replaced with clear plastic.

Andy Mowrey of Oakland has a similar problem with a bus shelter at Chesterfield Road and Fifth Avenue in Oakland. The shelter, installed by Adshel, replaced one the Port Authority erected years ago.

"It has always been tough to pull out of our residential street [Chesterfield] and onto [the] free-for-all of ... Fifth Avenue," Mowrey said.

"I had been reluctant to call the Port Authority or the city because I feared that if they got enough complaints the shelter would simply be removed rather than correctly/safely installed."

Port Authority has been praised and criticized about the new shelters, many of which it doesn't own.

"If the shelters have advertising, they are not our shelters," said authority spokesman Bob Grove. "They've been installed by Adshel, Lamar or some other company."

Adshel already has installed -- at no cost to the Port Authority or the city -- more than half of the 300 shelters it plans to erect in Pittsburgh's business districts. The shelters, which include metal benches, are well-made and attractive. They feature advertisements on the side panels.

The company also plans to install 50 shelters without advertising in residential areas.

Adshel executives couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Sal Sirabella last month said he will review with Adshel any shelters that are considered safety hazards.

He can add the ones listed above to his list.

Meanwhile, here's a possible solution for those shelters that are blocking the view for motorists and pedestrians alike:

Move them well back out of the way, or forgo the advertising.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Lawrence Walsh can be reached at 412-263-1895. His e-mail address is pyp@post-gazette.com.