South Philadelphia neighborhood fed up with narrow street

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Even though their South Philly block is getting a much-needed makeover, residents are fed up with the narrow street.

Subcontractors spent Friday laying brand new sidewalks along with the 2100 block of south Mole Street. But it's what's in between those sidewalks that has residents like Achour Aroussi worried.

Will there still be enough room for street parking?

"I don't think so," said Aroussi. "It's not enough. Too narrow!"

Mole is one of many Philly streets just wide enough for a parking lane and a driving lane. Just barely wide enough, according tp longtime resident Terry Nicodemo.

"I had my mirror knocked off twice," said Nicodemo to FOX 29's Bruce Gordon. "Because it doesn't go in."

Then came the city utility, street and sidewalk makeover that, neighbors say, has torn up this block since last September.The work has made life miserable for residents like Katherine Wilson.

"We haven't had a sidewalk for basically the last four months. The streets been a muddy puddle. They haven't been picking up trash at all-- or very rarely."

Now, with the new sidewalks and curbs in place, vehicle owners may feel like they're getting squeezed.

Gordon measured the total width of the vehicle lanes-- parking and driving-- and came up with 13'10" He re-measured up the block and again recorded 13' 10". City regulations appear to require at least 7 foot wide lanes for parking and even wider for driving. Mole Street doesn't seem to measure up

he foreman out here says they've built the new sidewalks to city specifications, but Gordon did notice the new curbs appear measurably wider than the old ones.

You can see the difference where old curb meets new around the corner on Snyder Avenue.

Gordon contact the city Streets Department, which promised to send inspectors out next week take a look at the measurements on Mole.

Without changes, parking for the 50 or so homeowners on the block will go from real tight to nearly impossible.

"I have an SUV," said Wilson with a chuckle, "so that's not going to be fun to try to park."