When the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine were installed in 2009, they were pretty cutting edge, as far as U.S. bike lanes went. Stretching from river to river, the lanes were installed after removing a lane of motor vehicle traffic, and prioritized bicycle transportation and pedestrian safety. Despite the occasional motorists who used a lane as their personal parking spot, the lanes were pretty comfortable to ride on.
Things have changed.
Spruce and Pine Streets through Center City, like many bike lanes all over the city, have deteriorated to the point that it’s tough to tell where the motor vehicle lane ends and bike lane begins. We have often noted in our office that Spruce and Pine are used as bike lanes, at this point, because people are used to using them—not because the lanes themselves are good infrastructure, anymore.
The deteriorated condition of both streets, and two extreme bike crashes this past winter—one of which killed 24-year-old Emily Fredricks, the other of which badly injured Rebecca Redford—has led the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems and the Streets Department to prioritize street paving for these two streets in 2018. This is an opportunity to decrease harmful interactions between motorists and cyclists within the next nine months.
Their plan: Switch the bike lane from the right side to the left. We believe this is a good start, a step in the right direction, and we encourage as many people as possible to come out to meetings on both side of Broad Street, on April 4 and 5, to hear about oTIS’ plan and express your point of view about it.
As we noted when these meetings were first announced, what Spruce and Pine need, in our opinion, are protected bike lanes and protected intersections. We will be sharing that view at these meetings, and hope you will, too.
But there are potential benefits to this plan, and we hope it will be a stepping stone toward better bike lanes here.
One benefit of switching the lane from the right to the left is visibility. Drivers have much more visibility on their left than on their right and a narrower blind spot than on the right. Personally, on one-way streets without a bike lane, I ride on the left simply to make sure I’m more visible to the potential driver behind me, since I’m on the driver’s side, rather than the passenger’s side of a car.
The second benefit is that shifting the lane will reduce the likelihood of interactions between cyclists and motorists taking right-hand turns. Right hand “hooks” are the most prevalent type of bicycle crashes in cities nationwide.
Angle crashes, of cars turning right, into cyclists, are the most common type of bicycle crash on these streets, with 61 percent of crashes being angle crashes, according to a Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia analysis.
Lastly, shifting the bike lane to the left will reduce interactions with the #7 bus.
So, those are the initial benefits that can be realized the soonest. They are positive and the plan should be implemented to realize those benefits. But more is needed. As we’ve written on this blog before, we believe, at the very least, protected intersections are needed to prevent negative interactions where cars are turning. Even with the bike lane on the left side, cyclists will still be mixing with cars turning left, and we think protected intersections offer safety benefits that should be implemented as soon as possible.
The lanes themselves should also be upgraded beyond shifting them from one side to the other. The second-most prevalent type of crash on these streets: Side swipes in the bike lane.
Of course, the other glaring issue with these lanes is motorists’ propensity to park in them whether it’s allowed or not. And although the Philadelphia Parking Authority has increased its ticketing more than 120 percent since we began meeting with them in 2013, increased enforcement hasn’t solved the problem of illegal parking and loading/unloading. Contractors, FedEx, UPS trucks, and, basically, anyone, is still parking there whenever they feel like it, forcing people riding bikes into traffic, often to the surprise of the motorist behind them.
A real change to the bike lane’s engineering is what’s needed to make cyclists, pedestrians, and motor vehicle drivers safer on these streets. Although this is not an either/or scenario. This is just what the city believes can be done in the short-term. But that’s why it’s important to come out to these meetings and make your point known.
This year’s plan should move forward but the Bicycle Coalition also wants to participate in a community engagement process to craft a plan for the entire Spruce and Pine corridor that addresses parking, loading, and greater separation between bicyclists and motorists.
Come to one of the two meetings on April 4th (Kimmel Center at 300 S. Broad Street) or April 5th (Levitt Auditorium at 401 S. Broad Street) between 6-7:30pm
Listen, learn, and let the City know what you think.
Want to help us flier for this event? Email randy@bicyclecoalition.org.
Good, sensible, and thanks.
Great idea to shift the lanes. The time has come. Finally !
Best,
Todd Schwartz
Chair, Zoning and Planning Committee
Lower Moyamensing Civic Association
AS YOU NOTE: This is a half-measure, and even this half-measure is being opposed by the proponents of Moscow-style, entitled motorism. We don’t need mild-mannered opposition hear, or “engagement” with selfish people who park on the sidewalk and go to brunch with church parking flyers in their windows. Please put a link to this in the BCGP calendar, which shows no clue of these important meetings. We need a firm NO to this plan and a real protected bike lane system in Philadelphia. Not in the year 2525, but now, with the funding that is available now, to save cyclist and pedestrian lives now.
Mike,
I get your point. And we are continuing to advocate for protected bike lanes. In But if we say protected bike lanes now, or nothing, and nothing happens, and another person dies, we have to live with that — you do not. The literature tells us left-hand bike lanes make streets safer than right-hand ones, on one-way streets. Additionally, we are proposing, and believe we will get, protected intersections as part of this project, which will cut down on angle crashes, the most prominent type of crash along those corridors.
This is not mild-mannered opposition; it’s working within reality. It is going to take engagement with the residents, the civics, the churches, and the businesses to get protected bike lanes — engagement which has not been conducted by the city, since they are additionally focused on a number of other PBL projects.
I don’t like the situation, either. I recognize and have written here, and in the Metro today, that the real changes needed are protected lanes and intersections. But I cannot, in good conscience, face the parents of someone killed on Spruce or Pine and tell them I, and our organization, overlooked a chance to make the street safer and said no because we were waiting for something better.