Protests could make city halt construction

The city may trash its construction plans for a University City area traffic intersection in favor of an idea proposed by Medical School graduate student Amelia Gallitano, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell said this week. Gallitano, along with other community members, is protesting a Philadelphia Streets Department plan to improve traffic flow along 38th Street when there are events scheduled at the Civic Center. The plan calls for altering the traffic signals at the 38th Street and Woodland Avenue and 38th Street and VA Hospital parking lot intersection. Calling the city's plans a threat to the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians and a threat to the environment -- because it would require the destruction of two large trees in order to remove a traffic island on Woodland Avenue -- community members came up with alternative measures the city might take in order to free up traffic, Gallitano said. Blackwell said the community members' ideas -- which would include implementing a "no turn on red" rule at the Woodland intersection in order to protect the safety of pedestrians -- are "excellent." "I was impressed with the level of research," she said. "The city is very appreciative of their efforts -- the group has expressed very legitimate concerns." Construction on the intersections began earlier this summer but has been halted until Blackwell and other city officials meet with the community group in order to reach a resolution about the plans. Gallitano said she has a "working meeting" with city officials this afternoon. The city has also met with the group on two other occasions to discuss the issue, Blackwell said, and Streets Department Project Manager Bob Wright added that during those meetings, the group was unwilling to compromise with the city on the project. "There seems to be the feeling that nothing's negotiable on the part of the community," he said. "In the whole dialogue, there has got to be some give and take." But Gallitano said she is open to other suggestions which would not compromise the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists because "there is not a perfect solution." "I'm not a traffic engineer," she said. "But the Streets Department tends to concentrate on changes from an automobile perspective, and I have other interests." But, Gallitano added that "the relevance of this entire project is brought into question since the fate of the Civic Center is unclear." The University announced its plans to purchase the Civic Center from the city in order to turn it into an ambulatory care unit for the Medical Center last fall. Negotiations have occurred behind closed doors and neither University nor city officials have publically announced any signs of progress on the deal.