Meeting discussed Washington Avenue restriping, likely to be completed in summer of 2016
Last week a meeting was held to discuss the hot-topic issue of the restriping of Washington Avenue. While these plans have been in the works for some time now, a consensus has not been reached on the best design for the road.
The Streets Department, Planning Commission and Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities gathered on Thursday with about 200 community members to discuss the restriping, which could be completed in summer of 2016.
This meeting was a continuation of the studies being done to decide on the best plan for the street.
More from the Philadelphia Business Journal:
Some also voiced confusion over mentions that the Planning Commission was “starting anew” with their plan for Washington Avenue after community members said they were not fans of back-in style parking that was shown in the adopted Philadelphia2035 South District plan.
But Eleanor Sharpe, of the Planning Commission, said back-in parking is not an official city recommendation, it was simply one of the findings from a study featured in the Philadelphia2035 report.
“At the time the district plans were done, this was the best recommendation,” she said. “It was not actually cast in stone.”
Officials with Mayor Michael Nutter’s office said the Thursday meeting was an effort to have all the various affected parties work towards consensus since they previously failed to gain enough community support.
Many are concerned over the visibility of the road lines on the bike lanes and turn lanes on the street, along with plenty of other issues. The plans for the restriping of Washington Avenue, which were originally slated to be completed this year, included changes to the parking, car lanes, bike lanes and more to improve visibility and safety.
If all goes as planned and a consensus is reached on a design for the restriping, the project could be completed in the summer of 2016.
If you ever use Washington Avenue, by foot, car, bike or otherwise, you probably have opinions on what needs to be done to make it a safer and more effective road. What improvements would you like to see?
I don’t think any of this is going to matter one way or the other if the road is filled with trucks making deliveries any ways.
Move the bike lanes between the parking spots and the sidewalk, keeping the end of each block a no-parking zone so there is a line of sight for turning vehicles to see bikes. Then you can structure the parking however you want. Be sure to include delivery zones and not just parking, so that trucks have a place to load/unload.
I repeat, bike lanes BETWEEN the parked cars and the sidewalk.
Agreed. Bikes between curb and parking works well on some incredibly busy streets in NYC in juggling deliveries, parking, through traffic and bikes. The design as proposed is rife with issues, no matter your mode of transport.
The problem with making protected bike lanes is the curb bulbs. MOTU has continually emphasized that they’re interested in quick, cheap, and easy improvements.
Making a proper protected bike lane would mean chipping up the concrete at those bumpouts.
MOTU is only considering short-term solutions – basically stuff on the level of paint, not concrete.
Of course, they’ve been talking about “short-term” solutions for 2 or 3 years now — enough time to plan and implement a long-term solution in any functioning city.