Chinatown's Opposition To Bike Lanes is Based on Assumptions, not Facts

According to Philly.com - Wilson Wan, who organized the petition at the suggestion of of 1st District City Council candidate Mark Squilla, said he hopes to gather more than 1,000 signatures over the weekend before presenting the petition to the Mayor's Office.

"Tenth Street is so small, if they want one lane for parking and another for bikes, that will jam up the traffic," said Wan. "People come down to Chinatown because it's convenient. If there's traffic then it will no longer be convenient for them. All the businesses will lose customers and some might be forced to close."

"A lot of people are upset," said Squilla, who stopped by to support the petition. "They think that the proposed bike lanes are infringing on their convenience."

To say Chinatown is "convenient" for motorists is a bit disingenuous. It is convenient to park in Chinatown if you stop in a travel lane and put on your flashers. Indeed delivery trucks and double parking are two of the reasons that traffic crawls on 10th.

But do bike lanes really have a negative economic impact on an urban street? Several studies say no, that the opposite is true. A 2009 study of Bloor Street, a commercial street in Toronto, Ontario showed that encouraging bicycling is good for business: people who had biked and walked to the area reported that they spent more money in the area per month than those who drove there.

Another survey interviewed merchants on Valencia St in San Francisco. Valencia was restriped, with lanes reduced from 4 to 2 along with bike lanes. 66% of the merchants interviewed stated that the bike lanes had a positive impact on their business.

The Philadelphia Streets Department has conducted a traffic study and determined that the newer smarter traffic configuration can handle the current existing volume. Some at Jefferson Hospital predicted that the new bike lane would inflame the congestion that was already there. That hasn't happened, which is good news for the emergency vehicles that have to access the hospital.

There is no doubt that Chinatown's incredible competition for space means that there is no perfect solution for everyone, those bike lanes will be blocked from time to time. But on the whole 10th street will become the choice southbound street for east of Broad cyclists. And that means more cyclists will be stopping in Chinatown to take advantage of the many services available in this historic neighborhood as well as making it easier for Chinatown employees that already bike to work.

If bike lanes do indeed have a negative impact on the economy of the neighborhood then the data collected for this bike lane trial period is the only platform that can prove it.

New Buffered Bike Lanes to Debut Monday

The Streets Department Paint Crew has been busy this week, laying down South Philly's first sharrows on 11th St southbound to striping for the new buffered bike lanes on 10th and 13th Street.




















Sharrow on 11th St-note the large beer truck blocking the northbound bike lane.

The sharrows are part of a reconfiguration of parking that occured on 11th last year. The previously Bike lanes (poorly marked) were removed and back in angle parking was introduced aster the street was resurfaced. The northbound bike lane was restored in May but there was not enough space for a southbound bike lane.

Before rush hour this morning 10th St was striped for buffered bike lanes from Market to Lombard and 13th as well from Market to Hamilton St just south of Spring Garden. The signs, hashmarks and bike stencils should be in for the Monday morning commute. Perhaps the most perturbed group of motorists affected are the courtroom personnel who were permitted to park in the right lane on N 13th St between Market and Arch St. Handwritten notes were placed on their windshields warning them to park elsewhere beginning on Monday.



13th Street will be the only contiguous northbound bike lane to go completely through Center City, The 5th St bike lane begins at Chestnut and the 22nd St Bike Lane terminates at Race St.