Ambitious Plan To Make City More Bicycle and Pedestrian Friendly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia's Planning Commission is expected this week to approve a new long-range plan to make the city more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly.

The Philadelphia Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan is described as an ambitious long-range plan to make the city more conducive to getting around on foot, or on two wheels.

Debbie Schaaf of the Planning Commission says one recommendation is for what are called curb bump-outs, to make crossing intersections safer:

"The crossing distance is shorter, you have better visibility between pedestrians and the motor vehicles, and it tightens the curb radius so that the vehicles have to slow down a little bit as they turn the corner."

Schaaf says other recommendations include more shared bike lanes similar to what was added to Spruce and Pine Streets in Center City:

"Bikes lanes, something called marked-shared lanes, bike friendly streets, all together nearly 200 miles in our study area, which encompasses about 40-percent of the city."

The Planning Commission will discuss and likely vote on the plan Tuesday. The full plan can be found here.

Reported by: Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio