Bikes Not Welcome At the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival

One of Northwest Philadelpia's largest events-the West Oak Lane Jazz and Arts Festival strongly urges people not to drive to the Festival on Ogontz Avenue. In fact organizers are setting up several shuttles to the event as there is no on site parking permitted. It also strongly recommends that festival participants use public transportation.

One mode of travel that is not welcomed onsite is bicycles. Indeed it's included in the list of what not to bring right under firearms. I suppose you could find a signpost a block away (bike racks are very scarce). But the festival planners should have maximized their travel options to the event by setting up a bike parking station with Neighborhood Bike Works, given the enormous expense of running shuttles on at least three different routes for three days, setting up a bike parking station would have been a bargain.

Interestingly enough is that less than ten years ago the Streets Department took on fierce local opposition and performed a road diet on Ogontz Avenue, reducing the number of lanes from 4 to 3 and included bike lanes. Other great streets for bicycling lead into the area including Mansfield Ave from East Mount Airy, 66th Avenue from East Oak Lane and finally Upsal St from West Mount Airy, Roxborough and the Wissahickon bikeway.