Nutter pleads for City Hall pedestrian safety
With Dilworth Plaza fenced off for construction, Mayor Nutter asked people to stay on the sidewalks instead of traipsing through the streets. The fence cuts off access to the west half of City Hall, which had been a major pedestrian thoroughfare. Since the barriers went up last week, many people have chosen to walk in the street on JFK Boulevard and 15th Street.
With Dilworth Plaza fenced off for construction, Mayor Nutter asked people to stay on the sidewalks instead of traipsing through the streets. The fence cuts off access to the west half of City Hall, which had been a major pedestrian thoroughfare. Since the barriers went up last week, many people have chosen to walk in the street on JFK Boulevard and 15th Street.
Nutter held a news conference Thursday, asking them to stop. "There is no safe place on the side of 15th Street for people to walk," he said, adding that crossing to a sidewalk would add only a few minutes at most to the typical trip.
Although city law requires construction projects to maintain pedestrian access, Paul Levy, head of the Center City District, which is overseeing the $50 million Dilworth project, said his organization had concluded it would not be safe to have people walking next to large construction equipment. - Miriam Hill