A new protected bike lane safety project has been proposed for 11th Street—and it’s got us pretty excited. Spanning from Bainbridge to Reed Streets, OTIS’ project calls for a two-way protected cycletrack on this already well-used corridor.
There will be a public open house on Tuesday, April 16 at Palumbo Recreation Center on 725 South 10th Street from 7pm-8pm to discuss this project. We encourage your attendance.
In addition to the new cycletrack, new pavement will be laid over unused trolley tracks along the street, creating a smoother road environment for all users and address common issues such as tripping, skidding, and bicycle wheel trap hazards on the tracks.
To create a safer and more comfortable environment for pedestrians and transit riders, new painted bump-outs will create shorter road crossings.
Crosswalks and lane markings will be repainted for further visibility to all road users. Flex posts will be installed to define the pedestrian bump-outs and prevent illegal parking at corners that can obstruct sight-lines of turning drivers.
The new layout, west to east, will include a two-way protected bikeway, a painted buffer with delineator posts, head-out angle parking, a 1 vehicle travel lane each way southbound and northbound, and head-out angle parking.
The 11th Street project is the latest protected bike lane project proposed this season, with others including 2nd Street, 5th Street, 6th Street, 13th Street, 10th Street, Germantown Avenue, and 22nd Street.
We support converting all of these streets with no or limited bike lanes into safer corridors for all road users allowing for a more bikeable, safer city.
While it’s important all of the Bicycle Coalition’s supporters come to this meeting — and attendance at all these meetings, so far, has been great — it’s also important you encourage your friends, co-workers, neighbors, community members, and whoever else you know, to make these meetings, too. Safer streets affects everyone and it’s worth giving as many people as possible a say in how safe infrastructure works in Philadelphia.