PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Bicycle organizations and safe streets advocates are demanding that PennDOT take action to improve safety along a section of Philadelphia's West Market Street.
Activist groups gathered Friday at 34th and Market streets, not far from where pedestrians Meaza Brown, 48, and Rosa Mar Espinosa Rodas, 41, were killed in separate incidents eight days apart last November.
"We're here to honor their memory by demanding action before another family receives a devastating phone call," said Julio Rodriguez, policy director for Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
"Every study from the city, state and federal government has identified West Market Street, this eight-block corridor between the Schuylkill [River] and 38th Street, as one of the most dangerous high-priority corridors in Philadelphia," said Gabriel Straus, an organizer with Philly Bike Action. He said the groups want speed cushions, an immediate reduction of the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph, and flex posts added to the existing bike lanes.
Long-term, the groups are demanding the installation of a median and concrete-separated bike lanes. Straus said traffic-calming strategies were recommended for West Market in a 2021 report by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, but no action was taken.
PennDOT, in a statement to KYW Newsradio, responded that it "shares the community’s deep desire to improve road safety along this corridor."
The statement went on to say PennDOT "continually coordinates with the City of Philadelphia on local infrastructure improvements and safety projects... A substantial reconstruction or reconfiguration of Market Street West would require a comprehensive analysis, as well as coordination among PennDOT, the City of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, SEPTA, and other affected stakeholders."
