As of this afternoon, the petition led in partnership with 5th Square, Philly Bike Action and Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia addressed to Mayor Parker, Council President Johnson, Council Member Squilla and all other members of Council has closed with nearly 6,000 signatures in support of fully protecting Philadelphia’s protected bike lanes with permanent concrete barriers.
In May of this year, the Bicycle Coalition published its History of the fight for parking protected bike lanes in Philadelphia as it’s a question we receive from many that covers the challenges the coalition has faced in urging our elected officials in Harrisburg and in City Hall to prioritize the development of the high quality bike network. Our advocacy efforts to create a high quality, connected network of bicycle infrastructure for the thousands of Philadelphians who deserve safer streets is core to our mission and moving toward the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2050.
In addition to ending the legacy practice of allowing parking in bike lanes on weekends, replacing all of the “No Parking” signage with “No Stopping” signage along protected bike lanes and fully funding Vision Zero so that protected bike lanes across the city can be upgraded with permanent materials, we called upon our elected officials to fully protect the city’s protected bike lanes with permanent concrete barriers and commit to saving lives through action, not just words.
So what does a permanent protected bike lane look like? Many have asked what these potential solutions to improve our protected bike lanes with permanent concrete barriers could look like. Over the years, we’ve visited cities who are leading the effort toward improving safety conditions for all vulnerable road users by implementing concrete protection that even include features like green infrastructure and public art to further establish a sense of place that is inviting to cyclists and pedestrians. The examples shown below have been implemented in Chicago, Seattle, Washington DC, Vancouver, and Toronto to provide an idea of what can be made possible here in Philadelphia.
Prefabricated concrete sections on Kinzie St in Chicago
Toronto Barriers Richmond St W, Toronto, ON Photo: Power Precast Solutions (Google Streetview)
Concrete Planters with DezignLine PediStill hand and foot rest (aaaahhhh!) 2nd Ave in Seattle, WA Photo: Seattle DOT (Google Street View)
Concrete Islands with planters – Hornby St, Vancouver, BC (Google Street View)
Virginia Avenue in Washington DC — Two-way center-running protected bike lane with concrete pills and delineators (Google Street View)
1st Ave NE next to Union Station in Washington, DC (Google Street View)
Concrete Pills along 15th St looking towards the White House in Washington, DC (Google Street View)
Concrete Pills and Pedestrian Refuge Island 15 St NW, Washington, DC. (Google Street View)
For more information:
- Data on the increase of ridership with protected bike lanes – https://bikeleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/protectedbikelanesmeanbusiness.pdf
- Parking Protected Bike Lane history: https://bicyclecoalition.org/why-arent-there-more-parking-protected-bike-lanes-in-philadelphia/
- 6-month Fatality blog: https://bicyclecoalition.org/philadelphias-fatal-crash-data-first-6-months-of-2024/