Philadelphia to open more bike lanes
Don't be surprised if you notice more cyclists this summer in Philadelphia. On Friday, the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities announced new north-south bike lanes in central Philadelphia as part of a six-month pilot program to allow easier access for cyclists on 10th and 13th Streets and Fairmount Avenue.
Don't be surprised if you notice more cyclists this summer in Philadelphia. On Friday, the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities announced new north-south bike lanes in central Philadelphia as part of a six-month pilot program to allow easier access for cyclists on 10th and 13th Streets and Fairmount Avenue.
The new routes - which will replace a traffic lane on each road - will run from Spring Garden Street to Lombard Street on 10th Street, and from South Street to Spring Garden on 13th. Another bike lane will run on Fairmount Avenue from Broad Street to Pennsylvania Avenue, with shared-use arrows for cyclists biking in opposite directions.
The bike lanes will be put in place in late June. In late 2011, the city will assess whether these routes should remain.
There are about 200 miles of bike lanes in Philadelphia. Four miles of the routes - along Pine and Spruce Streets from Front to 23d Streets - replaced a traffic lane. The three new bike routes are each about a mile long.
Also Friday, the office launched Give Respect-Get Respect, aimed at reducing the number of accidents in Philadelphia. According to the most recent available data from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, at least 1,800 pedestrians and more than 435 cyclists in Philadelphia were struck by vehicles in 2008.
Under the program, there will be more traffic officers on patrol, issuing tickets to drivers and cyclists who appear to be endangering others. The program will begin next week.
Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, said she knows she might encounter a barrage of complaints about the new bike lanes from proponents of the "if you build it, they will come" theory. But, she said, that's not the way it works.
"I'm here to tell you they're here anyway," she said Friday. "We're not telling people, 'Get out of your car, get on a bike.' We think we're responding to a public need. We have a responsibility to provide everyone with mobility choices that are actually safe."