I take the Presque Isle Express and visit Beach 8

I took EMTA's Presque Isle Express last Saturday. I visited Beach 8, which I can't ever remember ever spending any time at. I have never been into hanging out at the beach, and this is a really "beachy" area. But it was a gorgeous day and the lake was beautiful. I wanted to check out a few things, especially related to accessibility, here you go.

 Click on photos to enlarge 

Beach wheelchairs available at Beach 8 and Public Safety Building (Ranger Station), Free, first come first serve, ID required. Info: Ranger station 814-833-1495 or Park office at TREC 814-833-7424  https://www.discoverpi.com/projects/beach-wheelchairs  

Concrete ramp and deck at east end of Beach 8, near lifeguard chair. 

Soft ramp at east end of Beach 8. I don't know the story about the tent at the end, if the park put it there or if some less than considerate person set up camp there.

New solar panels in parking area provide electricity to the park and shade keeps vehicles cooler

Food Trucks They've had trouble with the concession stands since COVID, now they are allowing Food Trucks. Call Ranger Station for which trucks are where. 

Sign heading east toward Beach 7: cars etc. stay left, pedestrians & bikes stay right. 

Accessible beach area at Beach 7 (just east of Beach 8). Paved pathway (above) and accessible large shady deck area (below) 

Other areas on Park:

 Accessibility at Waterworks area at Presque Isle July 31, 2022 A couple years ago wrote about accessibility at the Waterworks/Cookhouse/Beach 7 area a couple years ago, if you want that sort of into:

Beach 11: Quick look at Accessibility  posted on Facebook June 2023. I checked this out because EMTA Presque Isle Express was running a bus shuttle to the Wednesday concerts at this beach. 

More Presque Isle info:

Presque Isle  info from DCNR

Accessible Erie: Presque Isle State Parke from Accessible Erie A project of Voices for Independence

January 2023 events

January 16 - Erie News Now reporter Isley Gooden visited the Freedom Rides Museum in Alabama that commemorates the 1961 Freedom Rides to desegregate intercity buses and depots in the South. .
Airs Monday January 16 at 7:30pm on WICU

January 19 - THE TRANSPORTATION COUNCIL FOR THE ELDERLY AND DISABLED OF ERIE COUNTY will be hosted via Zoom on January 19th at 12:30PM. Anyone interested in participating can request an invite and an agenda by emailing Chris at cgerhart@ride-the-e.com Agenda can be found at ED-Agenda-Jan-2023-002.pdf (ride-the-e.com)

January 23 - The EMTA Board regular meetings at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom. All meetings are open to the general public.
Please email tcroll@ride-the-e.com to request the meeting link.
Board meeting agendas can be found at https://ride-the-e.com/board-meeting-minutes-agendas/

Photo: Public domain

How to get to upcoming Erie events using EMTA

EMTA routes to upcoming outdoor events

Aug 14 - 814 Day Music Fest - 3-9pm. Bayview Park #31, Griswold Park and Perry Square (all buses but #15), Rodger Young #16 #25, Washington Park #29 

Aug 27-29 Zabawa Polish Festival 2220 Reed #16 #24 #25 #26 no Sunday route.

Sep 4 - German Heritage Festival St Nick's Grove #27

Sep 5 - Hispanic Heritage Festival Perry Square All but #15

Sep 24-26 -Erie's Blues & Jazz Festival Frontier Park #30, #31 no Sun. route.

DOWNTOWN events - All Erie buses except #15 go to State Street.
Events subject to change due to COVID and other concerns
CORRECTIONS welcomed
CELEBRATE SAFELY

Sledding by bus

You can take the EMTA bus to some great sledding this time of year. The 31/32 will take you to Frontier Park (Lake Erie Arboretum) and Westlake Middle School, both fun sledding spots.
The Route 30 comes pretty close, with a stop at 10th &Weschler.
I spoke to an EMTA dispatcher about taking sleds on the bus. She said the plastic ones and roll-ups are fine. Regular sleds with blades “should be in something.” I would recommend a box. She said as long as you aren’t blocking the way there shouldn’t be a problem. 

GoErie video: Sledding at Frontier Park