New changes to plans for the imminent reconstruction of the South Street Bridge include fewer vehicle lanes, a lower speed limit and wider pedestrian and bicycle lanes.
The City of Philadelphia has already sent the original plan out to contractors to solicit bids for the project but will release an addendum with these new revisions, according to Marcia Wilkof, Democratic leader of the 30th Ward and Jim Campbell, president of the South Street Bridge Coalition.
Many of the 11 new revisions were first formally recommended in an April study commissioned by the coalition, which includes community leaders and associations, such as the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
Those revisions emerged from negotiations between the Philadelphia Streets Department, PennDOT and parties affected by the planned two-year construction, such as Penn and residents of neighborhoods on either side of the bridge, according to Wilkof and Campbell.
When the proposal for the new, reconstructed bridge was first made public last year, "there was a groundswell of people and groups who kept voicing the same issues," Wilkof said.
The original plans were "not what people were expecting," she said. "It was a highway bridge rather than a bridge connecting two historic neighborhoods."
A common concern was the five vehicle lanes on the proposed bridge. The revised plan has reduced that number to four to accommodate wider lanes for pedestrians and bicycles.
The South Street Bridge Coalition hosted a collaborative public workshop in November 2007 to crystallize community concerns into a list of recommended changes.
Between 100 and 150 people attended that workshop, according to Campbell, and the city even came up with some revisions of its own.
Adding more signalized crosswalks was "something the Streets Department came up with, something great that came out of collaboration" with the wider Philadelphia community, Campbell said.
Not all of the 23 recommendations generated at that meeting have been incorporated into the plan. For example, the April study recommended that metallic watchtowers be eliminated from the design, but those are still included in the plans.
"There are other issues we are still talking about in regular meetings with Streets and PennDOT," Wilkof said.
But, she said, she knows of no pressing issues left that should further delay the start of the project. An expected start date for construction has not yet been set. The Streets Department did not return calls for comment.
Throughout the process, Wilkof and Campbell agreed, the city has been "totally forthcoming" and receptive to community concerns about the reconstruction.
"This is proof that public opinion really does matter," and can affect city policy, Campbell said.
