A Letter to Society Hill: Remove the Hold on Safer Streets along Spruce and Pine
A letter from a group of concerned Society Hill neighbors
Dear neighbors,
Late last year, our group of more than 40 Society Hill residents wrote an open letter to Society Hill Civic Association’s leadership, asking that they remove the “hold” put on the installation of flex-posts in the bike lane at the intersections of Spruce and Pine Streets between 8th and Front Streets.
It’s 2020, and our group has expanded exponentially. Since this issue has sprung up in the media and in our neighborhood, we have added more members to our ranks looking to organize for a better, safer corridor.
And we continue to support the installation of safer infrastructure in Society Hill.
Because of the “hold” the Society Hill Civic Association (SHCA) put on installing flex posts at the corners east of Eighth Street, our Civic Association has invited negative attention from the press, the city government, and the greater population of Philadelphia. Numerous people, including one pedestrian, have gotten into crashes along Spruce and Pine Streets in Society Hill, which could have been avoided if these traffic control devices had been installed.
Background
Intersection protections were proposed by the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) in 2018 to make the bike lanes and crosswalks along the entire Spruce and Pine corridor safer for pedestrians, people on bicycles, and motorists.
The public plan was for those intersection treatments to be installed between 2nd and 22nd Streets. However, because of opposition from the SHCA, those intersection protections were installed only between 9th and 22nd Streets, exempting our neighborhood from these important safety tools.
Current Status
The rationale for SHCA’s opposition to these simple intersection protections — which were recommended by both the City of Philadelphia and Howard Stein Hudson, a planning firm hired by the SHCA to study Spruce and Pine Streets — is unclear. Some of the reasons we have heard are not quite accurate, or not convincing.
Petition: SHCA has referred to a petition signed by Society Hill residents. In fact, that petition was opposing the full protection of Spruce and Pine Streets, not the intersections. The petition was not spread to all Society Hill residents, and the petition itself featured misleading language.
Danger to cyclists in Society Hill: SHCA has stated that OTIS determined the posts were not necessary east of 8th Street. In fact, the original plan noted that all intersections between 2nd and 22nd Streets would receive intersection protections with two exceptions: “Intersections with high turn volumes like Broad Street and Spruce Street, Broad Street and Pine Street, and 5th Street and Pine Street will have different configurations to prevent excessive traffic delay during peak hours.”
City vehicles can move unimpeded: SHCA has stated that flex posts obstruct city vehicles. In fact, the flex posts installed on every block between 9th and 22nd Streets do not obstruct city vehicles, including buses or trash vehicles.
Need for action now
In a recent issue of Society Hill’s publication, The Reporter, SHCA President Larry Spector stated, “We agreed that OTIS could conduct a pilot project to test an as-yet-unspecified alternative intersection safety measure that might satisfy concerns about both bike safety and the practicality of delineators.”
We applaud Mr. Spector for this decision, but we don’t think he has gone far enough. Street design and safety should be handled by experts. Safety on our streets cannot wait. The pilot project that Mr. Spector asked for has already happened: it is all the delineators west of 8th that work well for all of us, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. What is needed now is not a delay but action to make all of Pine and Spruce Streets safer.
All of us feel it is imperative for the City of Philadelphia to move forward with flex posts at the corners — now.
We propose that the SHCA put the topic of the “hold” on corner safety flex posts on the agenda for its next meeting, remove the “hold”, and allow the city to install flex posts east of 8th Street, as was originally planned.
If you support our mission to make Spruce and Pine Streets safer, comment at the bottom of this page and we will add your name to the list of signers.
Andrew Ascher
David Becker
Sean Beppler
Elayne Bloom
Rory Boyle
David S. Cohen (Bella Vista)
Francine Cohen (Bella Vista)
Arthur Coyle
Paul di Francesco
Laura Frigeri
Joyce Dogan
Norry Dogan
Laura and Richard Fredericks, Co-Founders, Families for Safe Streets Philadelphia
Spencer Finch
Bill Foster
Nancy Foster
Colette Fu
Brandon Hadfield
Peter Harrison
Liesl Jandrey
Nancy Kassam-Adams
Shahir Kassam-Adams
Mark Keener
Marc Kleiman
Robin Komita
Alison Lagola
Paul Levy
Oliver Lyons
Lindsey McCahill
Brian McKenna
Albert Meinster
Adriel Mesznik
Elizabeth Heller-Mesznik
Oliver Mellet, Jr.
Ian Morrow
Mario Moussa
Camille Orman
Marissa Perrone
Joseph T. Piscitello
Gail Pray
Nicky Rhodes
Leslie Ross
Colleen Seeber-Combs
Kasia Stein
Glenn Sykes
Mark Vevle
Jonathan Williams
David Wolfsohn
Tessa Young
Colleen Seeber-Combs
Kasia Stein
Glenn Sykes
Mark Vevle
Jonathan Williams
David Wolfsohn
Tessa Young
