The Obama administration has given Philadelphia $2.5
million to figure out how to finally fix Roosevelt Boulevard, the 12-lane deathtrap
that runs through Northeast Philadelphia.
The federal grant, coupled with $2.5 million in local and
state funding, is designed to do what all previous efforts have failed to do:
plan a reconstruction that will make the Boulevard safe and efficient for
motorists, pedestrians, transit riders, and even bicyclists.
The 14-mile-long Boulevard has a reputation for being one
of the most dangerous highways in the nation. Since 2001, 150 people have been
killed in traffic accidents on the highway, and thousands have been hurt.
For pedestrians, the road is too wide. For bus riders, it
is too slow. For motorists, it is too chaotic.
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"The Boulevard doesn't work for any of the travelers
that use it," said Andrew Stober, chief of staff of Mayor Nutter's Office
of Transportation and Utilities. "We need a plan to reconstruct the
Boulevard in a serious way that is financially feasible."
That will mean separating the high-speed inner lanes from
the lower-speed outer lanes and getting rid of the notorious
"cross-overs" between the two. It also will mean creating a separate
rapid-bus corridor in each direction.
After decades of half-measures that accomplished little
and grand plans that came to naught, the newest effort will try to balance cost
and life-altering change.
"Anything less than the physical separation of modes
will fail to achieve a comprehensive long-term solution," city planners
wrote in their successful application for federal funds. "This requires a
full reconfiguration of the Boulevard."
About 150,000 people in 90,000 vehicles travel the
Boulevard daily, including about 25,000 bus passengers.
The effort to plan a rebuilt Boulevard will get $1.5
million from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, $500,000 from the
city, and $500,000 from SEPTA.
The anticipated result, the city application said, will
be a blueprint for a "project that finally fixes the Boulevard."
The city's application predicted it will take 3 1/2 years
to complete the planning study. And then it may take five years - and hundreds
of millions of dollars - to rebuild the Boulevard.
That would mean a reconstructed Boulevard by 2023.
The first step will be to hire a consultant to lead the
effort and plan meetings to gather public opinion.
Making the Boulevard safer and more transit-friendly
could have the added benefit of reducing poverty in the Northeast by improving
access to jobs and boosting economic development there, Stober said.
"If we transform the Boulevard into a viable
multi-modal project, it will increase economic competitiveness and improve the
quality of life for residents of Northeast Philadelphia," he said.
The new plan will build on a study now underway by the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to develop a low-cost "bus
rapid transit" system for the Boulevard. That "Better Bus"
study, begun last year, envisions express bus lanes and controlled traffic signals
to move buses more quickly along the highway.
Earlier proposals by regional planners for extending the
Broad Street Subway or the Market-Frankford subway-elevated lines along the
Boulevard have been shelved as too expensive.
Source: Philly.com
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