City Council passes bill that could put Philadelphia's bike lane safety project back on track
The Philadelphia City Council passed a bill Thursday that paves the way for the city to move forward with its bike lane safety project; additionally, loading zones in some neighborhoods that were installed and then removed a few months later could be put in place again.
Part of the city's bike lane safety project included the installation of loading zones, giving people a place to park their cars for a couple of minutes to unload items or drop off passengers instead of using the bike lanes.
"It really seemed like having them in there got rid of 95% of that chaotic, dangerous behavior, and the street genuinely did feel safer in the time that those loading zones were in," said Andrew Posmontier, a member of Philly Bike Action.
However, some residents are against the project and formed the group, Friends of Pine and Spruce. The group filed a lawsuit in June seeking to block the city from moving forward with the plan. Two months later, a judge ruled the city could not install the loading zones without city council approval and the city had to remove those zones that had already been installed just two months earlier.
Thursday, council members took action, passing a bill that would give the Streets Department the authority to establish loading zones in parts of Center City, including Spruce and Pine streets.
Paul Boni opposes the project and is part of Friends of Pine and Spruce. He said, "The city is really trying to look only at one segment of society and refuses to acknowledge that there are many different users of the street, and that safety and accessibility is important for everyone."
The eventual goal of the city's bike lane safety project is to install some kind of concrete protection along the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets.
The mayor has 10 days to sign the legislation, which would make it effective immediately.
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to the Streets Department to see if and when they plan on reinstalling loading zones in parts of Center City. We have not heard back yet.