![Signs and Symbols Glossary [thumbnail]](http://cdn-5d792904f911c90950a587a6.closte.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Signs-and-Symbols-Glossarycrop-e1396643545940-1024x1024.jpg)
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: For the first time in more than a decade, the Philadelphia Streets Department have announced their plans for bike infrastructure improvements this year.
Fourteen miles of new bike lanes will be installed, including more than three miles of innovative bike infrastructure. Among innovative facilities will be the City’s first on-street physically protected bike lanes on Ryan Ave and Frankford Ave (by the Pennpack Trail) in Northeast Philadelphia along with climbing bike lanes (uphill bike lane/downhill sharrows) on three streets emerging from the Schuylkill River Valley (Shawmont, Midvale and Ridge Avenues). Check out the map below, and click on it for an enhanced version.
In addition to the new bike lanes, the City and PennDOT will be will be installing 19 miles of sharrows and 36 miles of enhanced (restriped) bicycle facilities, bringing the total to 70 miles of improved streets for bicycling in 2015.
For details you can access our interactive map.
It is great to see a bike lane added on 22nd street on the approach to the Parkway, but what ever happened to adding one all the way to Fairmount Ave? This would be great to connect to the already existing lanes and bike share station there. Any idea why this was not included?
Rumor has it City Council doesn’t like the idea of the 22nd Street connection to Fairmount Ave.
Let, be fair – it’s Bill Greenlee, specifically. http://planphilly.com/articles/2014/09/19/councilman-bill-greenlee-still-won-t-let-streets-dept-stripe-bike-lane-planned-for-22nd-st
We’re only talking about a few blocks here, as the 2 lanes of 22nd ends at Fairmount anyway. And oh, BTW, any time a bus goes up 22nd, it is effectively turned into a single lane anyway, because there just isn’t enough room on those last few blocks. Why idiots like Greenlee keep getting re-elected to city council, I’ll never understand.
I’m happy to see the sharrow and signs posted on 21st in graduate hospital. What plans are there for 20th St in southwest center city? Is it possible to set up local neighborhood donations for signs and sparrows specifically for a given neighborhood? I think bike/motorist education is really needed. Having a safer bike infrastructure in conjunction of education will make Philly an even safer place to ride 🙂
Thanks
Kathy
What happened to the existing bike lane on Grant Ave in NE Philly? The city ground the road, re paved it, and painted stipes, but NO BIKE LANE, where there was one before the paving project?
The City puts in bike lanes and symbols last (I don’t know why). If you don’t see any lanes and symbols by the middle of June let us know.
Still no separate bike lanes? There could be a glorious one on the entire stretch of Columbus, spring garden, and pieces of washington without disrupting traffic. Happy to see repaving, but that feels like a bandaid.
Indeed! Despite the extensive length of it, I really don’t like to use Columbus/Delaware because of the speed of drivers and the unprotected bike lane. I just don’t feel terribly safe.
No improvements around bala Cynwyd? .. seems they did not consider the new connection btw manayunk and bala., over the manayunk bridge, coming up this year
Am I really suppose to get excited about 3 miles of sharrows on 5th street? This is a waste of money, If we don’t have the space for a proper bike lane we should be considering advisory lanes.
No sign of the South Philly bikeway on 15th and 13th. Any update on that?
That project will happen in 2016.
The Ridge Ave climbing lane will be a nice addition. The map has it going the whole way up to Manayunk Avenue. Ridge has parking on both sides, and the street is pretty tight from Rochelle to Manakunk. Are they getting rid of the street parking on the uphill side to fit the bike lane in? As a bike commuter who rides up that section every day, I think it’s great. If I lived and parked on that block, I’d be less happy. Maybe the map is wrong and that’s just going to have sharrows.
That is the map that the City gave us. It’s possible that the climbing lane will only extend up to Osborn St which is the first intersection after the Wissahickon Train Station.
Are they actually refreshing the striping on Spruce and Pine buffered lanes?
Yes, the City got a $250K grant to stripe key bike lanes (Spruce, Pine, 5th, 6th etc.) to support bike share.
I don’t understand Sharrows. At least send mailers out educating the locals. THey don’t understand what they mean. If I were a dumb driver I’d assume it was a bike route/trail marker not “hey share the road…if a bike is in front of you yield to them bc not enough room to pass”. They don’t get it and I’ve been almost run over by angry speeding drivers revving engine laying on horn for blocks at a time to get me out of their way. Dangerous! We need BIKE LANES and improved education/law.
I wish they would repaint the bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The more and more I see the growth of programs, facilities and promotion of cycling in Philadelphia, the more I also see scofflaw ***** still riding bicycles of sidewalks.
Scott Strader, you are simply wrong. In every case, studies (not “I think”) adding bike lanes REDUCES sidewalk riding. Are you suggesting that by eliminating space for cyclists to ride in the street, that sidewalk riding will magically disappear? Please delete your comment, and stay off the internet for 30 days.
–mcget
are they just re-painting the bikes lanes on spruce and pine or repaving? huge chunks are useless stretches, torn up and barely patched. same with columbus. whats the point in painting them, I wont use them when i am in danger by doing so anyway. all these officials tout XX miles of bike lanes. Id love to see cyclist map out unusable lanes and present what is real and not just on paper.
scott- normally at the beginning of summer they do a ticket blitz to help educate cyclists on the law about sidewalk riding. its also posted on all bike share stations. if only they would proportionately do the same with vehicular traffic on the streets (thats cars AND bikes). id appreciate a ticket blitz on speed and carelessness in the same manner I appreciate the tickets for sidewalk riding. in fact i’d really appreciate everyone being licensed and regular testing be required.
WHERE is the Washington Ave re-striping?? I’ve pretty much stopped using that street all together.
Otherwise, very happy to see all this much-needed re-striping. I hope that the really piss-poor condition of the pavement due to construction-related holes on Pine and Spruce are addressed as part of this, and they’re not just going to re-stripe.
What can we do to try to get the bike lane painted on 22nd north of Spring Garden? I live in Greenlee’s district. Do you think there’s any shot? It’s truly ridiculous that there isn’t one — it’s not big enough for two lanes, and biking on it is hazardous because of the fact that cars and buses try to go side-by-side.