Serpentine Drive Friends of Schenley Park Statement
On June 9, 2026, City Council held a meeting that will discuss the Serpentine Drive issue.
Below is Friends of Schenley Park’s official statement on the matter of Serpentine Drive:
The position of the Friends of Schenley Park is that Serpentine Drive, a 0.3-mile winding street that lies entirely within the park and is lined with historic stone walls, should remain closed to motorized vehicles.
Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) hosted a public comment period from January 1 to February 29, 2024, to gather community reactions to the department’s proposal to restore the wall that collapsed in 2019 and restrict vehicle access upon completion of the project. According to the mayor’s office (quoted in the Trib), the vast majority of comments supported restricting vehicle access and permanently designating Serpentine a bike- and pedestrian-only way. The wall restoration was completed in April 2026, and Serpentine is closed to motorized vehicles as planned. City Council is considering two petitions: One requesting that the street be opened to car traffic has 38 signatures; one requesting that it remain bike-ped-only has 80 signatures. The community’s position remains clear.
We urge City Council to support the results of DOMI’s thoughtful public process and move decisively to keep Serpentine permanently closed to motorized vehicles.
Serpentine is a valued north–south pathway within the park, well used by pedestrians, bicyclists, birdwatchers, hikers, exercisers, readers, and runners of all ages and levels of ability. Nearby residents as well as visitors use Serpentine frequently.
Serpentine is the only reasonable bike and pedestrian route in the park that connects Bartlett Street and Circuit Road. The trail from behind the playground to Circuit is much steeper than even the relaxed standards for hiking trails allow, and its surface is unfriendly to wheelchairs and strollers. The Friends of Schenley Park encourages more bike and pedestrian connectivity within and across the park, not less.
The Pittsburgh Plan of 1920–23 gives “special consideration to those who go afoot,” saying that, for the convenience and safety of pedestrians, “modernization of some of the larger parks, eliminating some of the roads . . . might prove beneficial.”
Urban parks are a respite from traffic, noise, and pollution. Panther Hollow offers hikers a quiet, peaceful refuge that would be severely disrupted by car traffic on Serpentine. The park on either side of Serpentine is more pleasant and usable for people and more habitable to wildlife when Serpentine is free of motor traffic.
Thriving cities around the world are moving toward more car-free zones for pedestrians, not fewer. The proposal to allow cars on Serpentine would be a step in the wrong direction.
Serpentine would serve no functional purpose as a roadway other than as a minor cut-through for commuters. Drivers can take alternate routes through the park, which add at most a few minutes to their commute.
Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicles cannot safely coexist on Serpentine. If Serpentine were opened to traffic, the stone walls would funnel cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians into dangerous encounters in a corridor that offers no means of escape for people who are not inside vehicles.
It’s the historic stonework along Serpentine, not the entire roadway, that is historically significant, noted as a “contributing element” in Schenley Park’s National Historic District designation. Opening Serpentine to motor vehicles (including full-size plows and road maintenance machinery) risks damage to the stone walls.