Philly's Complete Streets Bill Passes Out Of City Council Committee

Yesterday the Streets and Services Committee of Philadelphia City Council approved the Complete Streets Bill sponsored by Councilman Mark Squilla.

This will bring significant improvements to Philly's streets. The bill's seemingly dry, technical changes to the traffic and zoning codes will make our streets safer for all types of users. We believe this bill will give Philadelphia one of the most enforceable municipal Complete Streets policies in the nation.

You can read more about "Complete Streets" and what the bill will do here and here.

Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler, our own Alex Doty, Andrew Sharp from PennFuture, and Jenny Robinson from AAA Mid-Atlantic all testified in support of the legislation.

Rina Culter articulated her office's support for the bill in terms of the city's changing demographics. Philadelphia's rising populations of older residents and the 20-34 age group have different transportation needs than the era when "everyone had a car and used it for the shortest trips." The bill will help the city address those needs by requiring projects to answer the question, "Do these changes make it easier and safer for Philadelphians to travel?"

The hearing also foreshadowed other bicycle-related issues which Council might take an interest in. An exchange between Alex Doty and Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sanchez raised the issue of restaurant workers and delivery bicyclists, and the need for education and enforcement to get them off the sidewalks.

The bill attracted significant media attention. Here is some of the coverage of the bill from the past few days:

• WHYY Newsworks
• NBC10 Philly
• Philadelphia Inquirer twice
• CBS3 Philly
• GreenPhillyBlog

Once again we want to thank Councilman Mark Squilla for spearheading the effort to get this bill through committee. We also want to thank our members, whose support enables us to put in the long hours of work that bring the interests of bicyclists and pedestrians to the table. This bill, which we expect will be passed by City Council in the next month, is a model example of cooperative legislation and one which will make long-lasting improvements to the safety and livability of Philadelphia's streets and sidewalks.

City Council Update: Buffer Passes, Complete Streets Tomorrow

Two bills with implications for trails and bicycling are passing through City Council committees this week. Here's an update on the pair:

The Complete Streets Bill
The amended bill will be the first bill discussed in the Streets & Services Committee hearing tomorrow (Thursday, Nov 15th) at 2:00 pm in the City Council Chambers. You can learn more about the bill from these two blog posts. The bill is also gaining extensive press coverage, which we will gather over on the press page of our main website.

The 50' Buffer Bill

Pass bills so we can start building a
better city for bicycling!

The waterfront setback (otherwise known as the "buffer") bill was reported out of committee "with a suspension of rules," which means it was voted on favorably by the committee and will go to the full City Council for a floor vote in a few weeks.

Why did the Bicycle Coalition get involved in this bill? Because it is key to the future of waterfront trails in Philadelphia. The bill makes it more possible that trails can be built along the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers.

After a long summer of negotiations, which intensified over the past two weeks, the bill emerged from the Rules Committee unscathed and intact. There was a danger that an amendment might get introduced to shrink the setback footage, but that language never saw the light of day once the prospect was exposed in the media.

Complete Streets Bill Coming Before Philly City Council Nov 15th

A bill with large ramifications for Philadelphia's streets will be discussed in City Council on November 15th. Bill #120532, aka the Complete Streets Bill for Philadelphia, will be introduced at a hearing of the Streets & Services Committee chaired by Councilman Mark Squilla.

We are very excited that this bill will finally have its chance to be voted out of committee and sent to full City Council. It is the result of a tremendous amount of work and discussion between Councilman Squilla, the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities, the Streets Department, and ourselves. The result is a series of amendments to the original bill which make it a big win for Philadelphia's ability to walk and bike safely.

What: Streets & Services Committee hearing on amendments to the Complete Streets Bill
When: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
Where: City Council Chambers, 4th Floor

We applaud Councilman Squilla's leadership and initiative in creating one of the nation's strongest municipal complete streets policies. By improving streets, intersections, and sidewalks for walking, biking and driving, crashes will be reduced, lives will be saved, and more people will be encouraged to get out and get healthy.

The amendments to the bill accomplish two of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's goals: make Philadelphia a safer place to bike by enacting a Complete Streets policy, and update the City's traffic rules for bicyclists.

What specifically will the amended bill do? See below:

Come Support Meaningful Waterfront Setback Rule at 10-31 City Council Hearing

What better week to consider a new city zoning code provision that will require a 50 foot setback on waterfront properties?  The same week that Hurricane Sandy devastated the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England, causing loss of life and incurring billions of dollars of recovery costs.  Setbacks help reduce the impacts of these storms on property and human life.  Philadelphia, as many other cities do, should have its own rule requiring them.

City Council's Rules Committee is going forward with a hearing tomorrow morning at 10am on a bill to set waterfront buffers, Ordinance #120654.  This Ordinance will require a 50-foot buffer along rivers and streams to keep industry and development away from riverbanks, protect the quality of our drinking water, filter toxins, prevent flooding and allow for potential of future recreational trails along our streams and rivers.  As Sandy demonstrated all too well, properties exposed to waterways are particularly vulnerable to destructive storms and floods.

We like Ordinance #120654.  It is reasonable and came out of many months of negotiation between environmental groups, waterfront development corporations and developers.  During the past few weeks, we had been worried that there might be a weakening amendment to reduce the setback size to 25 feet for smaller streams.  Thankfully, that doesn't appear likely.  But, there is a chance that a weaker version of the bill may be proposed that creates a loophole for preexisting structures.  We urge anyone who can to come to Council chambers tomorrow morning to support a version of the bill that will create meaningful buffers, not one that allows for significant expansion of preexisting structures.

The future of continuous and contiguous riverfront trails in Philadelphia, which are critical to the completion and connection of the Circuit, may well rest on the outcome of this Committee vote.  The Bicycle Coalition will join Penn Future, Schuylkill River Development Corp. and others in testifying in support of a strong bill.  Please come tomorrow morning to City Council to show your support for a meaningful waterfront setback rule on all rivers and streams in Philadelphia!

Let's Convince City Council to Protect 50 Feet of ALL of Philly's Waterways

As part of a four-year zoning reform process, Philadelphia's City Council approved a new zoning code that called for 50-foot buffers on our city's rivers and streams. This past August, developers were able to prevent this provision from being put into effect with the rest of the code. Bill 120654 would restore this provision. But developers are leaning on City Council to weaken the bill.

City Council members need to hear that this rule is necessary to protect Philadelphia's drinking water and allow the potential for future waterway access. 

Missing trail: Mr. Storage on Main St. in Manayunk is built all the way
to the riverbank, causing enormous problems in trying to connect
trails. A 50ft buffer would prevent future headaches.

You can help in two ways.

1. Send a quick email to Councilmembers letting them know that you want them to support a "clean" Bill 120654 with no amendments to the 50 foot rule.
2. Attend the October 31st Rules Committee hearing at 10:00 am in City Council. We want to fill the room with supporters of a 50 foot rule for all waterways.

 From our friends at PennFuture; here's why this bill is important:

Council Reconsidering The 50 Foot Waterfront Setback

No public access or trail at Waterfront Square on the Delaware

As first reported by PennFuture on Tuesday, the important 50-foot buffer rule that Council introduced in early September is in trouble.

According to PlanPhilly, several members of City Council are considering amendments to the ordinance requiring a 50 foot buffer between waterways and new development. This buffer allows for the possibility of public access to waterways and provides environmental protection from the impact of development. The Development Workshop, a coalition of lawyers and developers and landowners, has been an opponent of the zoning changes and especially the 50 foot buffer plan.

In an earlier PlanPhilly article, Development Workshop Executive Director Craig Schelter describes the organization's reason for opposing the buffer:

Philadelphia Complete Streets Bill Hearing Postponed

Just have to wait

We have learned that City Council's Streets & Services Committee will not be meeting this Thursday as previously reported. This effectively means the hearing on the Complete Streets bill introduced on May 31st by Councilmember Mark Squilla and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Johnson, Reynolds Brown and Kenney has been delayed until September. The budget has pushed all other Council business until the fall.

We have been assured by Councilman Squilla that the hearing will be rescheduled very soon after Council reconvenes. We are excited to work with him and the Administration to get the bill passed in September or October.

Complete Streets Bill for Philadelphia!

It's been a busy week for bikes!

We are excited to report that a Complete Streets bill was introduced in Philadelphia's City Council earlier today! On the heels of the bike lane ordinance bill, (for which a compromise was hammered out earlier this week), Councilman Mark Squilla (1st District-South Philly) introduced a bill addressing multiple bike regulatory issues and a Complete Streets policy. The proposed bill does the following:

Makes Philadelphia's traffic code conform to PA traffic code in several ways:

• Makes the penalty for a bike running a red light $100;
• Allows two bikes to ride abreast & repeals the mandatory sidepath rule;
• Prohibits opening a car door in a travel lane unless it is safe to do so;
• Prohibits parking in bike lanes.

Make Complete Streets part of the City Code will have the following impact upon the City:

• Codifies a Complete Streets Executive Order requiring all agencies, when regarding all transportation and development projects, to give full consideration and accommodation of all users (read: pedestrians and bicyclists as well as drivers);
• Administration reports to City Council annually on progress being made toward reaching the goals and objectives of the Complete Streets policy.

We applaud and thank Councilman Squilla for his leadership on making Philadelphia's streets safer for everyone. We anticipate working on some technical amendments with the Councilman, and that a hearing will be held on June 14th.  Stay tuned!

The reconstruction of the South Street Bridge is a textbook example of a complete streets project.

City Council Committee Votes Tuesday On Bike Lanes: Two Steps Forward or One Step Back?

Twenty-four serious motor vehicle crashes (where a person
is taken to the hospital or a car has to be towed) are
prevented each year by the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine.

Members of City Council say the Streets Department needs to formalize its process for community notification and incorporating public comment into new bike lane proposals. We agree. 

To address this problem, Councilman Greenlee has proposed that City Council must pass an ordinance to install a bike lane. We do not agree. 

No other city in this country requires a bicycle lane to wait for a law to be passed by the local legislative body. Philly should not be the first.

Please come to the Streets & Services Committee hearing on Tuesday at 1:00pm in room 400 of City Hall to express your support for our sensible proposal for a formal review process that doesn’t tie bike lanes up in red tape. And cheer loudly in support of incorporating Complete Streets language requiring all users to be considered in street design, tightening prohibitions on parking in a bike lane or dooring a cyclist, and increasing fines for bicyclists who don’t follow the rules of the road. If you want to testify at the hearing, contact Sean McMonagle to be placed on the list. If you can't make it in person, send a short personal email to the Streets and Services Committee.

We are in favor of formalizing a sensible public notification and review process for bike lane installation and removal, one that requires approval of the district Councilperson for removing a travel lane. But we are opposed to requiring an ordinance requirement because:

• It adds red tape to professionally designed safety improvements. The bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets reduced serious motor vehicle crashes by 44%. Safety improvements proposed by professionals, that keep motorists out of the hospital, should not be delayed simply because they are bike lanes. 
• It singles out bike lanes. No City Council ordinance is needed for a) installing new vehicular travel lanes, b) crosswalks, c) speed bumps, or d) other traffic control measures. Why pick on bike lanes? 
• Delays can kill bike lanes. Bike lanes are installed during repaving. If approvals are delayed, repaving moves forward without new bike lanes and we are stuck with that street for 20 years. Final plans for repaving are made in the spring, at the same time as City Council passes the budget, and legislative delays seem inevitable. 

Why not treat bike lanes like traffic signals? Signals are routinely installed or removed by Streets traffic engineers. On occasion, City Council overrides the decisions of the Streets Department by passing an ordinance. But City Council does not have to pass a bill every time Streets wants to install a signal.

City Council has the chance to pass a sensible bill that formalizes the process for reviewing new bike lanes while encouraging Philadelphia’s steady march towards becoming a world-class bicycling city. Please join us at City Hall on Tuesday and speak out in support of encouraging biking and not taking a step backward by tying up bike lanes in red tape. 

City Council Bike Lane Ordinance Held In Committee--It's A Win!

So as you may have noticed, our various social media organs have been verily thrumming with news about City Councilman Bill Greenlee's proposed legislation requiring a City Council ordinance for new bike lanes.  We were opposed to it for reasons even we are getting a little tired of repeating.  Today, Mr. Greenlee proposed that the ordinance be held, delaying its consideration and dramatically decreasing the chances that it will appear again (at least in its current form).

A recap:

The Streets and Services Committee hearing was held this afternoon.  Approximately 70 of the 90 people in attendance were there because of the bike lane ordinance.  There was a smattering of helmets and lycra.  The only members of the City Council present were Councilmen DiCicco, Greenlee, and Green, and Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez (none wearing helmets or lycra).  Mr. Greenlee honored tradition by prefacing the bill by saying, "he wasn't against bike lanes."  For him, the bill was about transparency and creating consistency with the other aspects of traffic control that City Council already approves.  Mr. DiCicco said most of the comments he had received on bike lanes were negative, and while he was not anti-bike lane, he was interested in creating transparency and procedure.  Ms. Sanchez said she had a positive experience with the Berks Street bike lane, and she was supportive of the Streets Department's current procedures for installing bike lanes.

Deputy Mayor for Transportation Rina Cutler's testimony was the bulk of the deliberation.  Mr. Green and Ms. Cutler had the most impassioned back-and-forth.  Mr. Green tried to assert that installing bike lanes had nothing to do with traffic engineering or public safety.  Ms. Cutler politely but forcefully disagreed.  Mr. Green questioned the Streets Department's process and legal authority to install bike lanes.  Ms. Cutler defended the City's current procedures as a resplendent process inundated with outside input (our phrasing).

Mr. Green also dismissed the attending crowd as "sixty members of the Bicycle Coalition and ten members of the public."

In the end, Ms. Culter proposed that a Streets Department regulation could facilitate notification and transparency about when bike lanes were proposed for installation.  She said that she would work with Council staff to draft a regulation which would notify the public about forthcoming bike lanes and invite comment, avoiding the need for ordinances for every lane.  Mr. Greenlee seemed satisfied with that and proposed that the the bill be held for further deliberation. 

The takeaway:

The Bicycle Coalition is very pleased with this outcome and thinks it is an appropriate solution.  We look forward to having input on the proposed regulation.  We thank Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler for working out an alternative to the bike lane ordinance bill and thank all Councilmembers for holding the bill and being willing to work on this alternative.

Many thanks to everyone who wrote letters, made phone calls, retweeted our posts, and came to the hearing.  Your actions made all the difference.