Want a Bike Lane on Fairmount Ave? Attend These Civic Meetings

Many of us know that Fairmount Avenue in Lower North Philadelphia is a great connector from Temple University to the Art Museum, Kelly Drive/Schuylkill River Trail, and West Philadelphia. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has been working hard to gather support for the installation of bicycle lanes on Fairmount Avenue, but support has to come from a number of stakeholders, including civic associations along the corridor. Read below for an update of the Coalition's efforts to get bike lanes installed. If you live in one of these neighborhoods, consider taking action!

We have been working behind the scenes documenting community and business support for the installation of a bike lane on Fairmount Avenue west of Broad. The street is a natural candidate: 5-foot bike lanes could be installed on both sides without removing travel lanes or parking. The Streets Department proposes to install lanes from Pennsylvania Ave to Broad Street, facilitating bicycling for shopping, commuting, and daily travel in the Fairmount, Spring Garden, and Francisville neighborhoods.

However, the support of the civic associations along that corridor are critical to the process.  We will be presenting our findings from surveys and canvassing businesses to the Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation and the Fairmount Civic Association later this month and Spring Garden Civic Assn in February.

If you live on or near Fairmount Avenue (within the boundaries of these three civic associations) you can speak up in support of the lanes at your civic association meeting.  Below is information about the meetings and maps indicating the catchment zones for each association.

Francisville Neighborhood Development Corp
January 28th, doors open at 5:30 pm, meeting at 6:15pm
2nd Pilgrim Baptist Church, 15th & Ogden Street
Refreshments will be served
You must live within the highlighted portion of this map to vote.

Fairmount Civic Association
January 31st, 7:00 pm
Phila. Mennonite High School, 860 N. 24th Street
You must live in the highlighted portion of this map to vote (see page 2 of linked brochure)

Spring Garden Civic Association
February 20th, 6:30pm

Lithuanian Church Hall, 19th & Wallace Street
You must live within the highlighted portion of this map to vote.

Story by Nicholas Mirra for Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, published 1/16/2013. Read the entire blog post here.