As Mayor Kenney promised during his 2015 campaign, the City of Philadelphia is working to install 30 miles of protected bike lanes throughout the City. More than 200 people attended last night’s public listening session about the City’s proposal to convert the paint buffered bike lanes on Lombard, 27th and South Streets into protected bike lanes. Lots of voices and opinions were heard at the meeting. From our observation of the conversations, it was a split decision; lots of voices opposed and in favor.
The meeting was held in an Open House format. There were six boards and attendees were invited to read the boards, ask questions, hear answers from City staff, talk through their reactions and leave comments on sticky notes.
The proposal is to run a 6 month protected bike lane pilot on Lombard (b/w 22nd and 27th), 27th Street and South Street (b/w 27th and 21st).
In short, OTIS is proposing to:
- Place delineator posts every 20 feet in the bike lane buffer zone
- Add more loading zones on Lombard Street in the current parking lane
- Change the signage and regulations to prohibit loading in the bicycle lane
- Move The Philadelphia School bus staging to 25th Street
- Add yield bars approaching SEPTA bus stops in the bike lane to notify bicyclists that they must yield to bus passengers
Now is the time to make sure your opinion about this proposal is considered by decision makers. Please share your position with the City’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure Systems (OTIS) and the office of Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, by sending them an email message. You can click here to do so.