Philadelphia City Council Votes To Take Control of Bike Lane Placement
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Following some amendments in committee, Philadelphia City Council has now approved a measure to give itself more of control over the location of bike lanes in the city.
Councilman Bill Greenlee says he was looking to make the bike lane legislation consistent with policy on regulating roadway traffic.
"Where parking is affected, Council passes ordinances. Where travel is affected, Council passes ordinances," he said today.
The Nutter administration, which was responsible for locating and installing many of the current bike lanes -- such as those on Spruce, Pine, 10th, and 13th Streets -- was reluctant to go along with the legislation. It sampled 12 other big cities, and in every one of them the administration installed bike lanes in consultation with a district councilperson. At no point were they required to get Council approval.
Greenlee says the measure covers bike lanes that result in the loss of a travel or parking lane.
"Those other cities, I don't know exactly how they work," he said. "Maybe they (other city councils) don't regulate parking and travel lanes."
The legislation also gives any new bike lane a required eight-month trial period, to determine if it works.
