Should Parking On South Broad Street Median Be Banned?
By Anita Oh
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- During the Democratic National Convention, the Philadelphia Parking Authority prohibited drivers from parking in the median on South Broad Street. That's a Philly thing, but now that the convention is over, some residents are pushing for the restriction to become a permanent law.
If you've driven down Broad Street, you've seen it...car after car in the road along the median. However, these cars are not waiting to turn. They're parked, spanning about 16 blocks of Broad Street and it's technically illegal.
It's not well enforced, except during major events and snowstorms. It's not safe, nor sightly, says 5th Square, a Philadelphia based political action committee. That is why they have started a petition calling for daily enforcement.
"Cars that are trying to parallel park, in a very tiny space, right next to cars going 35 miles per hour, it's a not a recipe for how a street should be working," said Jake Liefer, the person who started the petition.
Liefer says that as a resident of South Philly, he had no problems finding parking elsewhere during the DNC, when parking was banned on the median. "It's about 200 spaces that are there," Liefer said. "There's over 20,000 spaces on that neighborhood, so really, it's not fixing any of the parking problems."
Other neighbors disagree.
"There's not enough parking for people that live here," said Constance Burlison. "So, where are they supposed to park?"
There are a lot of questions, but few answers said Kory Aversa, who lives and works in South Philadelphia. "No, I don't see them offering any solutions other than don't do it." Aversa said. "We should come up with parking lots, or permitting, or actual transportation solutions for where we put our cars."
So, despite about 1,000 signatures on that petition, Mayor Jim Kenney says that he won't be jumping to action. "It's an anomaly for many neighborhoods to see that," Kenney said. "It's been that way I guess since before I was born, but anything that will change in that regard will be done in conjunction with the community."