Bike advocates are pushing the city on new, enhanced bicycle lanes that will keep cyclists safe in Philadelphia. Funding has been approved, but the installation process is taking longer than expected.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and a local political organization, 5th Square, held a press conference Tuesday encouraging Philadelphia officials to get started on building protected bike lanes. The lanes create a barrier between cyclists and vehicles with the use of blockades like curbs or planters.
Randy LoBasso of The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said the organization proposed 30 miles of protected bike lanes throughout Philadelphia, located on various main streets throughout the city. $300,000 was then set aside from transportation alternatives programs funds, or TAP funds, for the lanes.
"These grant-funded street upgrades can and must be installed quickly and with as much physical protection as possible as a first step toward make our city's transportation network safer for everyone," said 5th Square co-founder, David Curtis.
The money is good until 2018, explains LoBasso, and the city said it may take that long to install the lanes.
Philadelphia is the largest U.S. city without physically-separated bike lanes, the coalition said in a release, and reports the lanes "have been proven to make streets safer for all road users."
For more information and a map of proposed streets, visit the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's website.
