PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A major Philadelphia thoroughfare is getting a makeover that city officials say will make it safer for pedestrians, but the number of lanes for cars will be reduced. It’s a trade-off neighbors and businesses seem prepared to make.
Washington Avenue is a five lane mashup of cars and buses, trucks often double-parked, with cyclists dodging in and out of bike lanes to avoid them. There were 254 crashes there between 2012 and 2018.
So when the city received federal money to repave the whole stretch from Fourth Street to Grays Ferry, deputy director of Complete Streets Lily Reynolds said it was an opportunity to “look holistically at the safety of the street as well as how it works for all users.”
More than 5,000 neighbors weighed in on improvement options, and nearly three-quarters chose a plan that reduces the road to three lanes, with bike lanes on both sides protected by parking spaces that will include more loading zones for trucks and timed parking to produce more turnover and, effectively, more parking.
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“The city is really looking forward to realizing what we heard from the community as their priorities,” Reynolds said.
Next up, the city is taking input for improvements at the Broad Street, Germantown Avenue and Erie Avenue intersection.