Extended No Wake Zone proposed at Pittsburgh's Point

Relief is on the way for boaters who know the bump and grind of wakes from speeding boats when they dock along the Allegheny River as the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has proposed an extension to the No Wake Zone at Pittsburgh’s Point.

The change is intended to create safer conditions for mooring vessels along the riverwalk, a popular boater hangout along the Allegheny River near Point State Park, according to Mike Parker, a spokesman for the Fish and Boat Commission.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a proposed amendment to extend the current No Wake Zone on the Allegheny River from the Ninth Street Bridge upriver to the Veterans Bridge.

Additionally, the No Wake Zone would be enforced until Nov. 1 instead of Oct. 1.

The proposal will be considered for final rulemaking at the commission’s July meeting.

Under the current state boating regulations, boats are limited to slow, no-wake speeds from the Fort Pitt Bridge over the Monongahela River and the Ninth Street Bridge over the Allegheny River to the West End Bridge over the Ohio River. These limits are in effect on weekends from May 1 to Oct. 1 from 3 p.m. Friday until midnight Sunday and from 3 p.m. on the day preceding Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day until midnight of the holiday.

There is no defined speed for a No Wake Zone because of variances of boat sizes and motors. A no-wake speed is the slowest possible speed a boat can go while maintaining left and right steering without creating a disturbance behind the boat.

Warnings and citations are issued based upon a Waterways Conservation Officer observing a boat creating a wake, according to Parker.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary Ann at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.