Bike and pedestrian advocates rallied for a safer Market Street in University City
Two pedestrians were killed in hit-and-run crashes a week apart near the rally site at 34th and Market Streets last year.
Advocates gathered at 34th and Market Streets on Friday to demand the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation improve pedestrian and cyclist safety along the busy stretch of Market in University City.
Market Street is among the 12% of Philadelphia roads that account for 80% of traffic deaths and serious injuries in the city, according to city statistics. Just in November, two pedestrians, Meaza Brown and Rosa Mar Espinosa Rodas, were killed in hit-and-run crashes near Market’s intersection with 34th a week apart.
Philly Bike Action is asking PennDot to take five steps to improve safety on Market Street, particularly between 38th Street and the Schuylkill: install speed cushions, adjust traffic-signal timing to give pedestrians a head start before vehicles begin moving, place physical barriers along the median, and reduce the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. These measures, they say, are proven to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
Gabriel Straus, an organizer with Philly Bike Action, said each measure could be implemented within 60 days and should form part of a longer-term plan to make Market Street safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
The advocacy group’s longer-term proposal calls for implementing a road diet, building concrete medians filled with greenery, and constructing a two-way concrete protected cycle-path.
“Potential safety enhancements on Market Street West will be reviewed through the department’s continued collaboration with the City,” a PennDot spokesperson said. “A substantial reconstruction or reconfiguration of Market Street West would require a comprehensive analysis, as well as coordination among PennDot, the City of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, SEPTA, and other affected stakeholders.”
David Brindley, 57, a volunteer with the urbanist advocacy group 5th Square, lives in West Philadelphia with his family. When his children started fifth grade at Science Leadership Academy and walked from their home in West Philadelphia, he and his wife would sheepishly call the school each morning to make sure they had arrived safely.
His fears are well-founded.
Jasmine Hoffman is among those whose families have lost children to traffic violence. Hoffman’s 8-year-old niece, Jayanna Powell, was killed in a hit-and-run crash in 2016 while walking home from the Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School.
Two of Jayanna’s siblings were also hit, but the impact threw the girl 20 feet into the air, according to Hoffman. The driver took the car to a Chester County auto shop for repairs and told employees he had struck a deer. The shop’s owner became suspicious after seeing a news report and contacted authorities.
Hoffman has been a proponent for the Jay Alert bill, proposed legislation that would send notifications about hit-and-run crashes to auto repair shops and impose fines on shops that fail to report suspicious damage. She also hopes the safety measures proposed for Market Street could eventually be extended to the area around 63rd Street and Lansdowne Avenue, where her niece was killed and where three schools are located.
Organizers described street safety as an issue of sustainability, particularly as Philadelphia‘s population continues to grow. Walking and biking to work should be safe and viable options, said Will Tung, a volunteer for 5th Square.
Jason Das, 49, regularly commutes by bicycle from the area of 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue, sometimes with a cello strapped to his back.
“My bike is my main means of transportation in the city. It’s more reliable than SEPTA. I don’t have a car, and I don’t want a car,” the musician and artist said.
Das paused as horns sounded across the street.
“I just saw someone almost get hit by a car while I said that,” he said.
Among the energetic and friendly group of roughly two dozen activists and cyclists, there were heavy moments of grief as organizers remembered Brown, Espinosa Rodas, and Jayanna Powell, among others who have died on West Philadelphia’s roads.
“Traffic violence is preventable violence,” remarked Andrew Goodman, who works for City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
