As the year closes, we’re highlighting what we accomplished thanks to our members and volunteers. We’ll be publishing a blog each day covering the successes enabled by our members’ and partners’ investment in us.
Here is a brief rundown of what the Bicycle Coalition was up to in February 2018:
Remembering Everyone Killed in Traffic Crashes
The Gabay Family
The first pedestrian killed on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2018 was 21-year-old Danielle Gabay. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia met the Gabay family on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia for a memorial shortly afterwards.
At that memorial, we posted a sign to denote a pedestrian had been killed at that spot as a way to raise greater awareness for pedestrian safety in Philadelphia.
We posted one of those signs at every spot where a pedestrian was killed throughout 2018.
As national media organization Streetsblog reported the same day as our first memorial, in a story called “Philadelphia’s Boulevard of Death”,
Roosevelt is a death trap. At 12 lanes wide, it’s basically an at-grade highway through densely populated city neighborhoods. Every year, there are about 700 crashes and 10 traffic fatalities on this single street. At Roosevelt and Large, the site of the fatal crash last week, two sisters were killed in a collision just a year ago.
More than 10 percent of all of Philadelphia’s road fatalities happen on the Boulevard, even though it represents just 0.6 percent of city street. The speed is 45 miles per hour, but that is largely ignored, and every year, we have the unfortunate statistics to prove it.
Speed cameras have been proven to reduce crashes along corridors like Roosevelt Boulevard, and, even when there are crashes, reduced speed often lessens the severity of the crash.
Among those who joined the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Gabay Family were former Coalition intern/current Cycles PHL staff member Travis Southard, and State Rep. Jared Solomon.
New Paving Crew
It’s hard for Philadelphia — or, any city — to install better, safer infrastructure if you don’t have the physical workers to do so. That’s why we spent years advocating for a second paving crew in Philly. And in February, the city announced they’d done it.
As reported by the Bicycle Coalition back in 2014, Philadelphia’s street paving is backlogged to the point of sad hilarity. Back then, we found the city had a paving backup of more than 900 miles and would need to pave 130 miles of streets just to break even with what needs maintenance.
Since then, the city has not yet gotten to 130 miles, though paving has increased. One of the problems is that the city has, until now, only had a single paving crew to get the job done. That’s not enough.
And so, in February, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced that the city had hired a new paving crew to take on more streets.
Through advocacy and education, the Bicycle Coalition leads the movement to make bicycling a safe and fun way to get around for anyone in Greater Philadelphia. We’re a member-funded organization, and we can’t advocate for building out the region’s bicycle network without your support. Join or donate today to partner with us and make your ride better.