After lots of behind-the-scenes (and in front of the scenes) debate and bickering, American Street will finally get its protected bike lane, Plan Philly noted in a story published today.
As noted in the article by Jim Saksa,
The bike lane will be a raised lane with a sloping curb—the first such protected bike lane in the city. It will be six and a half feet wide, with a one and a half-foot-wide buffer curb.
Which means American Street is set to go from the above image, to this:
As many will recall, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia asked our supporters and members to join us at meetings in the Crane Arts Building last summer, to ask for protected bike lanes on the 84-foot-wide roadway in North Philadelphia.
Those who attended the meeting recalled the enthusiasm with which those in the room advocated for protected bike lanes on the street.
The TIGER grant to remake American Street was awarded back in October 2015, and as the Plan Philly story notes, time is running out to meet the federal deadlines required to move the project forward.
That said, Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez’s office publicly noted they are ready to introduce an ordinance to create the bike lane once they get it from the Streets Department. Streets is writing the ordinance for the Councilwoman’s office, which is the norm for these sorts of issues.