An exciting (sorta) new bike lane is close to making its grand appearance in Philadelphia. PennDOT is repaving Walnut Street from end to end (Front Street to Cobbs Creek Parkway) this month. Paving is already underway and the Streets Department forecasts the completion of the paving project by the end of September.
When finished, we will have a buffered bike lane on the left-hand side of the street, from 22nd Street to 63rd Street.
Walnut Street has some of the highest bicycle volumes in the City. It is a major east-to-west thoroughfare and is heavily used by UPenn and Drexel, two communities that tilt more bicycle-heavy. The old, narrow right hand bike lane beginning at 22nd Street created many conflicts with buses and frequent driver-side door conflicts, so this repaving project was a big opportunity to make major improvements for people on bikes.
In January 2012, we suggested to the Streets Department that they ask PennDOT to paint a left hand buffered bike lane to replace the existing right hand bike lane. Putting the lane on the left will remove bicycle-bus conflicts, and decrease the chance of dooring by placing the lane on cars' passenger side. A new buffered bike lane would complement the investment being made in the Walnut Bridge Gateway to make that section of Walnut Street friendlier and safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. Extending it all the way to Cobbs would make a safe connection between the
Schuylkill River Trail and
Cobbs Creek Trail and enhance safety in an underserved neighborhood.
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| Schematic of Philly's first left-hand buffered bike lane next to a parking lane |
What to expect
