New barriers implemented on Kelly Drive to prevent illegal parking

This week, the Department of Parks and Recreation installed a rope-line barrier on Kelly Drive along the areas from Strawberry Mansion Bridge to Boathouse Row. The measure, which drew attention from pedestrians, commuters, and Reddit, is meant to be the latest effort to prevent illegal parking in the area, a pandemic habit that continues to persist.

Illegally parked cars can destroy the landscape and create unsafe conditions for bicyclists, runners, and people walking on the trail. During rainy months, parked cars get stuck in the grass or mud, which can cause increased damage to the park and riverbanks.

According to spokesperson Maita Soukup, it has always been against Parks and Recreation regulations to park in grass and riverbanks at any Philadelphia park. And until the pandemic, parking along Kelly Drive wasn’t a problem, Soukup said.

Since then, it has turned into a recurrent seasonal issue. “It is not unusual to see groups of 15 to 25 vehicles parked on the grass along the riverbank on a nice summer evening,” Soukup said.

In preparation of the upcoming warmer months and to deter drivers from parking there, Parks and Recreation installed a rope-like barrier along the grass — it’s the same barrier typically seen around newly planted trees in the East Fairmount Park area.

You can get a $101 fine. Parks and Recreation has been warning drivers about the potential of being fined for illegal parking since 2020, but rangers didn’t start targeted enforcement until the following year.

Although this initiative is meant to be temporary, there is not a set day yet of when they will be taken out.“ The timing for removal will be determined at the end of the season based on need,” Soukup added.

Street parking