The new West Chestnut Street parking-protected bike lane will open on Tuesday, and the Bicycle Coalition is hosting a ride to the City of Philadelphia’s official ribbon cutting for the bike lane.
The City of Philadelphia is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony and press conference for the West Chestnut Street bike lane on Tuesday at 11am at 37th and Chestnut Streets in West Philadelphia. Yes, we know you’ve probably been riding the lane for a while, but its official open date is tomorrow.
Members of the Bicycle Coalition, who’ve worked and advocated for years to make this bike lane a reality, will be at the opening ceremony. (Read about the history of Chestnut Street advocacy here.)
You should come with us. We’re meeting up at 10am at 18th and Walnut Streets in Center City, Rittenhouse Square. Then, at 10:15am, we’ll leave Rittenhouse and head up into West Philadelphia via Walnut Street.
For those who’ve missed it, the West Chestnut Street parking-protected bike lane Vision Zero project has been under construction for several weeks, after about six years of advocacy on behalf of several organizations.
Here’s a short (and wet) explainer video I put together when the striping began earlier this summer.
Keep in mind, the lane is not totally done. It ends at 34th Street. PennDOT is now beginning construction on the Chestnut Street Bridge into Center City.
The bike lane on the bridge is currently on the right side of the street, while the West Chestnut Street protected bike lane is on the left. So, until the lane on the bridge can be reconstructed, the city will create a detour and divert cyclists to another route into Center City.
The lane also begins at 45th Street. We will continue advocating until cyclists can travel between Cobbs Creek and Center City via a protected bike lane.
Anyway, progress! Join us tomorrow for a ride and to celebrate Philadelphia’s newest protected bike lane.
I am very happy about this infrastructure installation, however, look at the condition of the street in the picture. I rode this lane the other day, and the street is in horrible condition. Philadelphia has a long record of installing infrastructure and then doing nothing at all to maintain it. Just look at Spruce/Pine Street and other bike lanes citywide, or the crumbling trails throughout fairmount park. Why can’t this city not do anything half-donkeyed? Why can’t Philadelphia maintain its most basic infrastructure??????
I looked at the renderings for the Chestnut Street Bridge project and see that the lane is shown to be buffered but not protected, and there’s a curb bump-out near the Schuylkill River Trail that would be in the way if the parking and bike lanes were switched. Is there any chance of re-configuring this before the bridge project is finished?