Northbound under the Chestnut St. Bridge

Editors Update: Phila Parks & Recreation and Office of Transportation & Infrastructure wrote to us on October 29th to say that they supported all of our recommendations, except for the convex mirror (for maintenance and liability reasons.)  PennDOT told us that their consultants were reviewing the recommendations.

Last week, early morning of Tuesday, October 22nd, a head-on collision between two bicyclists occurred on the Schuylkill Banks path under the Chestnut St. bridge.  One of the two bicyclists had to be transported to Jefferson Hospital by the Philadelphia Fire Dept. We do not know the extent of the person’s injuries.

In our view, the current closure of the northbound pathway under the Chestnut St. Bridge has created a hazardous situation that, we believe, contributed to Tuesday’s crash.

The re-decking of the Chestnut Street Bridge is the reason why northbound path has been closed.

We sent an email to PennDOT on Monday morning proposing the following recommendations to improve how bicyclists and pedestrians move around this construction obstruction due to the rehab of the Chestnut St. bridge.

We provided renderings from each direction.

1. Two-way orange signs on each entrance
2. White paint on the path indicating a yield zone
3. “Slow Zone” in white paint in front of each entrance
4. A convex mirror
5. Removal of the cones that are currently in the right of way

Southbound under the Chestnut St. Bridge

We will provide updates as we hear from PennDOT.