Quite recently, a member of the Fishtown Neighbors Association got annoyed while trying to cross York Street. The street is wider than most, with angled parking. At intersections it can be pretty hard to for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians to see. Sometimes cars drive side by side, creating two lanes where only one exists. At some stop signs, drivers routinely don't know exactly where to stop. So she started asking around, according to FNA zoning chair Matt Karp.
She called Councilman Squilla's office to find out what could be done. Squilla's office then called the Streets Department. And so a project began to improve the street painting and signs along E. York Street. These improvements will make things safer and clearer, as increased Fishtown development brings more and more pedestrians, bikers, and drivers into the neighborhood.
So the FNA gathered with the Streets Department, Squilla's office, and the Olde Richmond Civic Association and “we just talked about the issue,” Karp said. ORCA collected comments from members and community residents on its Facebook page.
The FNA member who spearheaded this improvement project went carefully up and down York Street, detailing how it could be improved, Karp said. The changes, which should be completed soon, include new bike lanes, parking lines, and crosswalks extending from Trenton Avenue to Thompson Street. Additional diagonal markings will be included at all of these intersections, as well as at Thompson & York near Aramingo—where currently there are no crosswalks or stop signs. This is an attempt to prevent cars from parking too close to corners and to keep traffic traveling in a single lane.
Funding from this work comes from The ARLE (Automated Red Light Enforcement) Program. The Streets Safety Engineer has drawn road plans for the addition of striping, bike lanes, angle parking and stop bars. The project includes painted STOP legends at some intersections.
This looks like a good balance of civic groups, community residents, and elected officials working together to make good use of funding earmarked for infrastructure. And it certainly beats getting a ticket from running a red light.