Chestnut Street protected bike lane
The City of Philadelphia just sent out a press release for the construction of Philadelphia’s first one-way parking-protected bike lane, along Chestnut Street in West Philadelphia. In the release, they note that construction for the lane will begin on August 7.
PHILADELPHIA – The Chestnut Street Transportation Project will be under construction in West Philadelphia beginning Monday, August 7th, announced Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. Preliminary work on the project will include several roadway enhancements to improve safety for all types of travel along Chestnut Street from 45th to 34th Streets, including the City’s first one-way parking protected bicycle lane. Construction is expected to take up to three weeks to complete.
Chestnut Street is a major thoroughfare with institutional, residential, and commercial uses and high volumes of pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic. From 2011 – 2015, 75% of the crashes on Chestnut Street happened between 45th and 34th Street. So the purpose of the project is to improve safety for all transportation modes along this stretch. The project involves shortening the crossing distance for pedestrians walking, installing the one-way parking protected bicycle lane, and removing one motor vehicle travel lane.
Streets Department crews will be refreshing the existing line striping and installing the protected bike lanes over the three weeks. For the duration of the project there will be intermittent lane closures and parking restrictions. Flag men will be on hand to direct traffic and “No Parking” signs posted.
The Chestnut Street Transportation Project is funded by the PA Department of Community and Economic Development through a Multimodal Transportation Fund award. An informational flyer has been distributed to alert residents along the corridor. For the duration of the work, crews will make every effort to minimize the inconvenience to affected drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The Streets Department thanks citizens in advance for their patience and cooperation during this project.
We’re glad to see the city has a planned begin date. And those who’ve been following this project for the past six years know we’re still trying to working with the city and PennDOT to extend the lane into Center City to the east, and to Cobbs Creek to the west.