“Clean me.”
[Update: The city recently postponed Spring Cleanup Day to April 16th due to weather.]
April 9th 16th is Philadelphia’s annual Spring Cleanup Day, where residents take to our streets, sidewalks, empty lots and parks to clean up all the trash left behind. And this year, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia will be teaming up with the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia to clean up the bike lane on the Grays Ferry Bridge. All are welcome to come out and help!
This will be the ninth time the city has organized this yearly cleanup event, and it has been hailed as a success every year.
“Philly Spring Cleanup has become a Philadelphia tradition to keep our communities clean from unwanted trash and litter,” said Mayor Kenney in a post on the Street Department’s website announcing the event. “Community involvement is vital for a successful cleanup season, and to keep our beloved city a beautiful city…”
We’ll be doing our part that day by focusing on a particular stretch of road which can be a potential minefield of flat tire causing debris. Through a partnership with the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia, we will be cleaning up the shoulders on the north and south stretches of the Gray’s Ferry Bridge from 9am to 2pm.
The Streets Department of Philadelphia will be providing volunteers with gloves, rakes, brooms, shovels and trash bags. Traffic cones will be set up to insure our safety.
If any members of the public are interesting in lending a hand at this site, they can sign up through our Facebook page here or the Streets Department website by searching for “Grays Ferry Bridge—north and south sides” here. Yes, it is misspelled on the website.
According to the Streets Department website, last year’s cleanup day yielded nearly eight million pounds of trash and recycled material collected by nearly 100,000 volunteers at more than 723 events around the city. As of March 30th there were already 278 events registered.
This year’s event will be happening rain or shine so keep an eye on the forecast. April showers will only help make our streets a little cleaner.
See the Bicycle Coalition’s calendar for information on all our spring and summer events.
But wait, there’s more:
The Bicycle Club of Philadelphia is planning a ride to the Cleanup spot on April 16. Here’s a message from, and contact information for, BCP member Owen Sindler:
Sat April 16, 2016 – Ride to Grays Ferry Bridge Cleanup (ad-hoc ride) .
Level D, 10-11 mph, 3 miles. Meet at Rittenhouse Square Fountain. The ride leaves at 8:30 am. Sat April 16, 2016 – Ride to BCP Grays Ferry Bridge Cleanup (ad-hoc ride) . Level D, 10-11 mph, 3 miles. Meet at Rittenhouse Square Fountain. The ride leaves at 8:30 am. Please meet Owen and Tim at Rittenhouse Square fountain for a group ride to the Grays Ferry Bridge. BCP will be participating in the 2016 Mayors Annual Cleanup Day. We will be cleaning the shoulders of the bridge to make it free of debris. As noted in the QR, the City will be providing us with the tools we need for this project. Please arrive by 8:15 so we may leave at 8:30 Cue sheets will not be available. Cue sheets will not be available. It is optional, but you may preregister until Friday, April 15, 2016 at 5:00 pm.
Leader: Owen Sindler, sindlero
@gmail.com, 215-990-3207 . Optionally Preregister
-Zach Mentzer
I love this idea, but sadly it will be covered in glass again in a week or so because of the recycling center right there. I travel the GFB often and have seen numerous times bottles just flying off the trucks and smashing in the bike lane. What we really need is a solid fence that will keep the glass out of the bike lane. The added benefit would be a modicum of safety from the traffic screaming by at 50 mph.
A crew from the city needs to come and clean the sewer inlets at the same time and regularly thereafter
As an intermittent user of this bridge for a commute to work, I am completely on board with this clean-up initiative. I’ve sacrificed two tires to the debris in these bike lanes. Nonetheless, this is only a temporary solution. The source of all the debris needs to be mitigated, or the bike lanes should better adapt to their location as someone else suggested, by creating a barrier between car traffic and the bike lane. That would be my ideal solution and recommendation. Thank you!
The bike lanes on that bridge have to be cleaned more than once a year to be usable. I just rode over the bridge today, but on the sidewalk, which is protected from the car lanes. I don’t want to ride on a sidewalk, but there is way too much glass on the bridge.