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Philly's Fishtown residents push for Girard Avenue changes
Fishtown residents are raising safety concerns about drivers misusing Girard Avenue’s middle lane, citing unclear signage and faded markings, while SEPTA plans to inspect the area for improvements.
PHILADELPHIA - Neighbors in Fishtown say drivers are using the middle lane on Girard Avenue as a personal speedway, and they want clearer signage and safer road design, according to FOX 29’s Jennifer Lee.
Neighborhood concerns about Girard Avenue safety
What we know:
Residents say drivers use the trolley and bus lane as a high-speed passing lane, which creates dangerous situations.
"Right now, drivers are using the trolley and bus lane as a high-speed passing lane and increases a lot of dangerous situations around here," said Gennadiy Ryklin of Fishtown.
A spokesperson with Philadelphia Police said, "The trolley lanes on Girard Avenue are for trolleys. Vehicular traffic should not use it to pass traffic in the direction they are traveling, except to make a turn onto another street. You could be fined for using the lane illegally to pass vehicular traffic. If there are yellow hashed lines, you should not be driving around them. You can lose control of the vehicle if the tracks are wet, causing a hazardous condition."
Neighbors have also noticed that the paint has faded in the left-only lane, making it harder for drivers to follow the rules.
Residents say this confusion leads to risky decisions and puts the neighborhood at risk.
Advocacy for changes and city response
The backstory:
The president of the Fishtown Neighbors Association said the group has been prioritizing Girard Avenue for the past year and a half, hoping for additional changes to make the street safer.
"We have made great progress with Girard Ave in the last year. For example, we’ve increased crossing times and we’ve lowered the accident rate at Berks Street to near zero. Line painting is underway as we speak. There’s still a lot to do and we will be reaching out to SEPTA to see what we can do about the center lane," said John Scott, president of the Fishtown Neighbors Association.
SEPTA said it plans on sending a crew to inspect the area for striping.
FOX 29 reached out to the city of Philadelphia to see if there are upcoming plans to update markers on the road and will update the story when we hear back.
Residents like Navid Avery have witnessed crashes and have been advocating for increased enforcement and improved signage.
"People don’t know exactly what’s going on because every intersection that you go to the signage is different. The path is different," said Avery.
Neighbors believe better design and clearer markings could improve driver behavior. "Good design leads to good driver behavior and right now there’s a lot of unclear markings on the streets. There is ambiguous signage. There are no road markings," said Ryklin.
Police say drivers can be fined for illegally using the trolley or left turn lane to pass traffic and drivers should not drive around yellow hashed lines.
What we don't know:
It is not clear if or when the city will update road markers or what specific changes SEPTA may recommend after inspecting the area.
The Source: Information from FOX 29’s Jennifer Lee, Philadelphia Police, and the Fishtown Neighbors Association.