Hundreds of Philadelphia residents lined up outside Jefferson University’s Bluemle Life Sciences Building Thursday evening for the opportunity to see and provide feedback to the city’s proposed bike lane safety upgrades for the Spruce and Pine streets corridor.
The room capacity meant not everyone could go in at once. Once small batches of folks were switched in for those who left, they were shown a series of boards and plans by members of Philly’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (OTIS), many of which they could write their feedback directly on.
The meeting allowed both cyclist safety advocates and residents on the street to air their concerns and suggestions. Christopher Puchalsky, OTIS’ director of policy and strategic initiatives, said the large turnout for the event was not unexpected.
“First of all, we got a petition with 6,000 signatures saying they’d like a safer Spruce and Pine Street, and then we’ve been getting emails over the last week or two,” he said. “I didn’t know it would be quite this big, but we knew a lot of people were interested in the condition of Spruce-Pine Street.”
The event, co-hosted by the city and the Washington West and Society Hill civic associations, was an open house format as opposed to a speaking one, which Puchalsky said allowed for more civil, one-to-one conversations and explaining.
“Having people move through the project boards, it seems like the conversations have been productive, as far as I can tell,” Nicole Brunet, policy director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said after walking through the open house. “The staff are doing a great job of explaining things, and there’s so many staff here. I felt listened to.”
The mayor’s office and the city have faced pressure from cycling and pedestrian safety advocates since the death of cyclist Dr. Barbara Friedes, pedestrian Christopher Cabrera, and others in July. Vigils, cycling protests, “bike lane parties,” and the petition presented at City Hall have called for concrete barriers to protect traffic on the city’s bike lanes, starting with Spruce and Pine streets, and Allegheny Avenue, as well as an increase to the funding that was reduced by more than half from the Vision Zero line item in the city budget. The administration claims that safety efforts are paid from other budget lines, not just Vision Zero.
The open house started at around 7 p.m. By the 9:10 p.m. end time, 371 people had passed through the presentation. Everyone got in who came and waited in the line wrapping around the square in front of the building to see the presentation, according to OTIS communications director Matt Cassidy. Just one person was seen being asked to leave by security, after she argued aggressively with OTIS staff.
Among the infrastructure proposals presented was the recommendation to add a combination of raised concrete barriers (said to be low enough for emergency vehicles to get over) and crash-resistant planters, which Brunet said she was excited to see.
“Could they be taller? Probably, but I hope this sets a standard that we can continue to grow this kind of infrastructure throughout the rest of the city,” she said.
Spruce Street resident, driver and product safety lawyer Eric Stahl was also happy to see the inclusion of concrete barriers. He said he has never felt safe enough to bike around the city regularly, but would love to see Spruce and Pine streets turned into “bike highways.”
“I have a 5-year-old. I would love for her to be able to bike to school … I would never let her do it without something really protecting her,” he said. “And you know — like five years, ten years — it’d be great for her to be able to bike some place and to feel safe about it.”
Along with the presentations boards were layouts showing where additional daytime loading zones could be placed in the parking lanes along the two streets. People were given the chance to mark out specific issues and suggestions along the Google Street View printout with the proposed new layout. One Pine Street resident suggested adding speed tables, a traffic-calming measure not in the proposal that he argued could have helped prevent the death of Friedes. An exit survey was also provided for visitors as they left.
Other policy recommendations include changing the curbside regulations along the bike lanes to “No Stopping Anytime,” increased PPA enforcement and relocating the relaxed parking for religious institutions, which some churches have already withdrawn permits for. SEPTA’s proposed bus revolution would also eventually take the need for bus stops off the corridor.
Puchalsky said the feedback he received was mixed.
“Some people really like it. Some people want to do even more traffic-safety improvements,” he said. “There’s people who worry that this will impact their quality of life, their ability to park and load in front of their business or in front of their residences.”
Bike shop owner and Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia member Michael McGettigan said he was frustrated that the open house was suggesting what other cities around the world have already proven, steps that advocates have been fighting to see implemented for a long time.
“The thing that kind of bugs me is … I was just at a service for [John Dowling], a co-founder of the Bike Coalition who was in a ‘die-in’ on the Walnut Street Bridge for bike lanes in 1990,” he said. “Now he’s gone and it’s just like, ‘When are we going to get something?’ There’s all these people dragging their feet on it.”
The next steps for OTIS is to take all the feedback and present it to the Parker administration and City Council, who will ultimately make the decision about the next steps. The cost estimate of the proposal is $4.8 million.
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s bill to fine vehicles $125 for stopping, standing or parking in a bike lane in Center City and University City, and $75 in other parts of the city, passed out of Streets and Services Committee this week and is in the second reading with Council.
