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Attn. Cyclists: City Council Now Decides Where Bike Lanes Do And Do Not Go

This should be interesting. According to CBS 3, City Council approved a measure to give itself control over where bike lanes in the city are located. The new rules require city council approval for bikes lanes that, “result in the loss of a travel or parking lane,” (but apparently not the other way around) and requires an 8-month trial period for lanes before they become permanent. Reportedly, Mayor Nutter’s administration was reluctant to go along with the plan after, “It sampled 12 other big cities, and in every one of them the administration installed bike lanes in consultation with a district councilperson. At no point were they required to get Council approval.” Because if there’s ever been anything that’s made things get done easier, it’s adding an extra step of governmental approval.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2012 at 3:22 pm.

  • Poster Nutbag

    i can see byko now, pissing on the carcass of a rusted out bike, dancing in glee.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sensenig Kurtis Sensenig

    Why is Philly moving backwards on bike lanes? What a stupid rule, I hope those bums get kicked out of office. Aren’t we support to be making biking easier so people will start biking instead of driving?

  • DP

    Damn shame, looks like bike lanes will be a thing of the past. 

  • Shawnkilroy

    sub moronic, but well connected chum sucker Darrell Clarke will have all lanes removed from his route to and from anywhere.  he doesn’t see the benefit. 

  • tsarstruck

    Does The Dude need to sign this before it becomes law?

  • thegreengrass

    Unlike.

  • LB

     hell, i just installed a bike lane all over reed street, what

  • the_ill

    BCGP seems to think this bill is the best case scenario, which might just be them putting expensive lipstick on a pig.  I’m ambivalent – I’m not sure there was ever going to be more bike lanes installed where travel lanes currently exist in center city and its surrounding neighborhoods, which is what this is really about.

  • Zom

    sorry but putting bikes before automobiles is just stupid. Clogging city streets because traffic is restricted is not conducive to a successful center city that makes people want to visit. It plays to a bunch of 1%er’s (handful of local bikers). 

    Don’t even get me started about eliminating parking lanes to create bike lanes. Parking is bad enough as it is. Forcing people into pay lots will kill business. 

    Get real, businesses should not have to sacrifice so a bunch of hipsters can pedal their ass around town sweating their balls off in their skinny jeans.

  • tommoes

     Zom, I frequently spend my money in CC precisely because of the bikes lanes and how they easily get me there. Driving and parking there has always been a pain in the ass -and probably always will be – lanes or no lanes. 

  • Guest

     Email your Council People.  They might not listen to you alone but they’ll listen if many of you do it.

  • Guest

    None of the existing bicycle lanes that removed a lane of traffic have reduced throughput.  Spruce and Pine changed speeds within the margin of error–one up, one down.  Tenth St. was the only street where a portion of the bike lane slowed traffic by about 5mph so that section (Vine to Filbert) is being removed.

    Yet, without hurting automobile traffic these lanes have made it much easier to bike in Center City.  And cyclists do buy things… in fact, I buy a hell of a lot more food since I don’t have a car payment.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8201023 Scott Gross

    So this is basically the end of new bike lanes, right?

  • roma258

    Here’s the thing. Making a city a pleasant place for its residents is exactly the sort of thing that attracts visitors. Nobody visits New York, San Francisco or Amsterdam because it’s easy to park there. They are tourist destination because they’re awesome places to go. Complaining about clogged city streets is like saying that nobody goes there, it’s too crowded. Clogged city streets are a sign of a vibrant city!

  • sooz

    If City Council wants to butt their noses into bike lane business, I think the biking community should email/call them every time we encounter any shitty car behavior — for every car in the bike lane, or when a car side swipes us, cuts us off, etc..  If they’re gonna stop new lanes, they should at least know (& take responsibility for) what we go thru. In case you’re too lazy to look up their emails, here they are: 

    Bill.Greenlee@phila.gov, darrell.clarke@phila.gov, mark.squilla@phila.gov, kenyatta.johnson@phila.gov, jannie.l.blackwell@phila.gov, curtis.jones.jr@phila.gov, bobby.henon@phila.gov, Maria.Q.Sanchez@phila.gov, bill.green@phila.gov, blondell.reynolds.brown@phila.gov, james.kenney@phila.gov, david.oh@phila.gov, cindy.bass@phila.gov, michael.nutter@phila.gov, bike@bicyclecoalition.org

  • Zom

    I hope not but maybe the result will be a better mesh of bikes and cars without causing congestion