Thank you to everyone that shared their thoughts last week on our traffic and pedestrian safety poll. The responses informed our application for the Neighborhood Slow Zone Program, which if selected, would begin a process with the city to develop a plan for traffic calming that responds to critical safety issues. This could include raised crosswalks that make it safer to cross the street, corner clearances and curb extensions that reduce car speeds while turning, and more. Read about the full traffic calming toolbox.

As with any potential change, we need to consider the positive and negative effects that these measures could have. We hope that residents will contribute their feedback if our application progresses, so we can ensure the best outcome for the neighborhood. It’s probably worth mentioning that the last application period in 2019 drew 28 applicants and only 2 slow zones were selected!

Based on the criteria for applying, N 5th St and N 2nd St need to be boundaries and not within the slow zone, as they are two lane streets going in the same direction. So the area to the west of N 5th St and to the east of N 2nd St are basically out of bounds.

Applications are weighted primarily on crash data followed by community demographics and the existence of places like schools and parks. These elements have also informed our proposal.

Unsafe Intersections

Survey respondents were asked to name the intersections that they feel are the most unsafe. Reasons for selections included lack of stop signs or traffic lights, faded crosswalk paint, low visibility due to parking or streeteries, and speeding. The proposed boundaries of our slow zone (Girard Ave, Spring Garden St, N 2nd St, and N 5th St) are aligned with the streets that Northern Liberties residents consider to be the most dangerous for driving and walking.

In addition, several of the interior streets are considered to be unsafe. Cambridge St. W George St, W Wildey St. Poplar St, Brown St, and Fairmount Ave going east/west; and N 3rd St, N 4th St and N American St going north/south. Residents find W George St to be particularly hazardous for a small one-way street, even more than W Girard Ave.

Reported Crashes

The NLNA also surveyed neighbors regarding whether they had witnessed a crash, and 50% answered yes. Our survey results closely mirror the crash data available from OpenDataPhilly. Again, W George St is top of the list. While Poplar St, Brown St, and Green St also have high crash rates in our survey and in the city data.

Regardless of the outcome of our Neighborhood Slow Zone Application, I hope to make traffic and pedestrian issues a priority of the NLNA, in addition to improving the conditions of our streets. Please drop me a line to share your thoughts.