For a society increasingly looking for more sustainable ways of living and getting fit, bike riding seems an attractive transit option. However, the current conditions of Philadelphia’s roadways often make it difficult for bicyclists to get around.
The Philadelphia Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan seeks to address these issues and make the streets more bike-friendly.
The plan will be implemented in two stages. The first stage, covering northwest Philadelphia through Germantown, has been adopted, and changes have already begun. The second phase, which includes west and southwest Philadelphia, is currently in planning. A consultant is analyzing the streets and looking for ways to improve, according to John Boyle, advocacy director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Phase two changes are expected to begin about a year from now.
Boyle said the plan will make improvements on the city’s last bike plan, implemented in the 1990s.
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Department of Health and Human Services, determined that the improvements were necessary because “design standards have changed, and we need a more comprehensive plan for Philadelphia bikers,” Boyle explained.
Boyle and his colleagues believe a bike-friendly city is necessary to be “a competitive city in the 21st century.”
Instead of looking to other cities in the United States, he believes that when planning out the future of biking in Philadelphia, officials should look to European cities, such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam — cities that have undergone a “methodical change in policy to favor bicycling over other modes [of transportation].”
College sophomore Dan Torrington is a bike enthusiast who occasionally finds it difficult to get around campus because Locust Walk is closed to bikes during the day. But the problems he faces when biking are not just limited to times when he is on campus. Because he would be facing oncoming traffic, he said, “going east, you can’t take Walnut.” He has also found problems because Chestnut Street does not have a bike lane, something he believes is necessary because “a lot of times people don’t pay attention to bikes when they are driving.”
Torrington and other Philadelphia bicyclists can express their grievances and help to direct the designs for the bike plan. The website for the project, tooledesign.com/philadelphia, allows individuals to submit their own suggestions to shape the new bike paths.
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