Oh, By The Way, 13th Street Bike Lane Will Be Permanent

An excerpt from a report issued from the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) concerning the 13th Street bike lane:

Based on the findings, which indicated that the pilot bike lane on 13th Street was not resulting in substantial impacts to motor vehicle traffic and was successfully attracting bicyclists, the Streets Department and the Mayor’s Office of Transportation have decided to make the bike lane on 13th Street permanent.

The full report is available for reading here. MOTU found that average vehicle speeds, vehicle volume, and vehicle delay at lights on 13th street were not significantly changed by the pilot bike lane. City cameras found that the majority of delay in vehicle queuing to make turns is caused by vehicle-pedestrian interactions, not the bike lane.

The report also supports our own (kind of obvious, but you know how some folks are) findings that adding a bike lane significantly increases bike traffic on that street:

above graph taken from MOTU report also linked above

Interestingly, a quick search found only CBS Philly and Philebrity covering this news. Of course, the more controversial 10th Street bike lane will probably draw more attention. But we have come a long way when MOTU can announce the permanent implementation of a Center City bike lane, and it causes so little ruckus.

Results of the 13th Street Bike Lane Pilot Study: Bike Lanes Should Remain

Last Wednesday, the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities presented the results of the 13th Street bike lane pilot project. The City presented its findings to a quiet room at the Gershman Y, the media circus and outrage that surrounded the Spruce and Pine bike lane public meetings noticeably absent.

The results of the test were overwhelmingly positive. A striking statistic announced at the meeting: bicycles make up 23% of the AM rush hour traffic on 13th at Walnut Street. The City also reported on several issues which need addressing. The main one is the intersection at Market Street, which is problematic due to the mixture of the bike lane, right turns, and the layover location for the #124 and #125 express buses. The City's solution will be to not mark the bike lane through this intersection. We recommended painting sharrows to guide cyclists and drivers through that complicated intersection.

13th Street is currently milled and awaiting resurfacing later this week, with line painting expected to take place shortly thereafter. While there is no final word on the permanence of the 13th Street bike lane, the report from the pilot recommends that the bike lane remain.


Results of 13th Street Bike Lane Pilot Study

City Hosting Open House On 13th Street Bike Lane

The City of Philadelphia is holding an open house next week to present findings regarding the 13th Street pilot bike lane.  This is your best opportunity to hear how the City perceives the bike lane to be going so far, and what changes or next steps they have planned.

Where: University of the Arts, Gershman Hall, 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia PA
Room: Levitt Auditorium (3rd floor)
When: Wednesday, November 2nd
Time: 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Note: this open house will not address the 10th Street bike lane.  There will be a separate meeting about that lane, at a date and time yet to be announced.

See the flier below:

13th Street Bike Lane Public Meeting - Nov 2 2011 Flyer

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.

It's Just Chalk, But Oh What Chalk - 13th Street Bike Lane Chalked Today

Remember that dream?  Where you rode on a bike lane up 13th Street through Center City?  Well, look down.



As of this afternoon, 13th Street from South to Market has been chalked for bike lane paint.  We expect that this chalk will spread north to Spring Garden, and along 10th Street from Lombard to Spring Garden, in the next couple days.  The real paint (as opposed to this heavy-duty traffic chalk) is supposed to go in before the end of June.