Image via the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Good news, cyclists, the 13th Street bike lane is here to stay! The pilot period is coming to an end, and the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) has decided to install a permanent lane within the next few weeks. The lane will stretch from South Street to Hamilton, with plans to extend it to Spring Garden Street after the section of road is resurfaced in 2012.
The MOTU report found that of all the cities with populations more than one million, Philadelphia has the most bike commuters. And yet there are hardly any bike lanes in Center City. MOTU is hard at work to change that. In 2009, they conducted a pilot test of east-west running bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets, and in the winter of 2010 they began planning for the north-southbound pilot lanes now in place on 10th and 13th streets.
The study reported that since the installation of the pilot lanes, bicycle traffic has increased without any major affect on vehicle traffic. Data also shows that the bike lanes have reduced car accidents and the number of pedestrians hit by cars along the 13th Street route, while encouraging much safer biking practices (keeping bikers off the sidewalks, for example, and travelling in the direction of traffic instead of against the grain). The 10th Street route is still in the evaluation process.
View the complete evaluation report here.
For a map of bike lanes, hazards, member-submitted commuter routes and other bike-related tidbits, check out the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia website.
– Anna Louise Neiger
