Rt 30 in Caln Township. Photo by Amanda Lozinak

As we reported in March and September, the “death” of the Bicycle Occupancy Permit has paved the way (sorry for the pun) for making bike facilities less onerous to get installed in the PA suburbs. PennDOT decided that simply modifying its bike lane implementation protocol wasn’t enough, so it decided to install two suburban bike lanes in Delaware and Chester Counties to get the ball rolling. Earlier this week, PennDOT’s Assistant District Executive Louis Belmonte confirmed that the projects are both underway!

Chester County Affiliate Chair Amanda Lozinak has written a brief review of the two projects and took pics of the Chester County project, while BCGP volunteer Marybeth Skatan helped us out by snapping some sneak peek pics of the DelCo project for us. Her text follows:

PennDOT announced this week that construction is underway to reconfigure the striping of two lanes in Chester County and Delaware County to include bike lanes – Route 320, primarily in Springfield Township, Delaware County from Wesley Rd to Baltimore Pike; and Business Route 30 in Caln Township, Chester County, connecting the borough of Coatesville with the Thorndale SEPTA Regional Rail station.

Rt 30 in Caln Township. Photo by Amanda Lozinak

These two locations were selected by the Bike Lanes on Suburban Roads Committee after many meetings with local officials and advocacy groups. These two bike lanes are the first bike lanes to be installed in the suburbs since the BOP was removed. They will serve as “pilot” lanes for the project to assist PennDOT in reviewing maintenance work and costs.

Rt 320 in Springfield Township. Photo by Marybeth Skahan

Rt 320 in Springfield Township. Photo by Marybeth Skahan

We thank PennDOT Central Office, PennDOT District 6, DVRPC and the PA suburban counties for their work to advance bicycle safety and accessibility throughout the suburban counties and look forward to the installation of many more bike lanes in the suburbs.