Philadelphia’s Brand Spankin’ New Protected Bike Lane

After recently building up a new bike, I took a trip into Philadelphia with the intent of observing and experiencing life as a cyclist in the city. I’d heard good things from friends who live in Philadelphia that commute and get around solely by bicycle. Plus, Philadelphia is ranked as a “Silver” level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. (Delaware’s two highest ranked communities – Newark and Lewes – are only ranked “Bronze”.)

Shameless plug to the Urban Bike Project of Wilmington for helping me build this up! No-name steel frame converted to single speed. Photo taken over the Schuylkill River Trail.

Taking the SEPTA train from Newark to Philadelphia, I began my Tour de Philly  from 30th Street Station. With recommendations from the folks at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, I spent the entire morning and better part of the afternoon checking out trails, paths, and lanes. Of all the facilities I rode on, the most striking to me was the brand spankin’ new protected bike lane along the Delaware River.

Traveling southbound on the Delaware River Trail. To the right is a park with benches, solar-lighting and bicycle parking.

This protected bike lane is the first stretch of the Delaware River Trail, which becomes a multi-use trail that will eventually span 6 miles of the Delaware River waterfront. The trail is part of the Central Delaware Master Plan to revitalize the Delaware River waterfront. The plan here is to make the currently inhospitable landscape more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and create connections to the Waterfront from local neighborhoods and currently existing trails.

Traveling northbound on a protected bike lane parallel to Columbus Boulevard in Philadelphia

Officially opened last June, this section of the Delaware River Trail includes a 12 foot bi-directional protected bike lane beside a 10 foot pedestrian walkway. There is a 6 foot planted buffer zone between the bike path and Columbus Boulevard (or Delaware Avenue depending on your location) that also functions as a rain garden to help manage stormwater. While this section of the trail is only 1400 feet long and makes limited connections, it is still a remarkable, state-of-the-art facility for cyclists and pedestrians alike.

In the 2014 Newark Bicycle Plan, the need for a westbound bike route through the downtown area is identified. Shared line markings (“sharrows”) on Main Street allow for legal westbound travel but, despite this, the volume of westbound travel on Delaware Avenue (against traffic) is so great that the city has considered installing warning signs. This indicates that there is a huge (and unmet) cycling need in downtown Newark. A bi-directional protected bike lane on Delaware Avenue would provide convenient, safe bicycle travel both east and west through downtown Newark. To see and experience how this would work firsthand, we don’t have to go far. We have, right in our own regional backyard, a great model to learn from.

  Paul Moser studies civil engineering at the University of Delaware.

RELATED:

• Silver Philly! Philadelphia joins Chicago and New York as One of the Top Three Bicycle Friendly Big Cities in America

• So Close: Just Missing Silver, Newark Wins Bronze Recognition from the League of American Bicyclists

• Delaware Bicycle-Friendly Community #2: Lewes

• Protected Intersections for Bicyclists

• Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business

• Evaluating Protected Bike Lane in the U.S. (National Institute for Transportation and Communities)

• Protected Bike Lanes Make the “Interested But Concerned” Feel Safer Biking

• Three Things Protected Bike Lanes Can’t Do