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What’s next for West Philly’s 52nd Street corridor upgrades?
A public meeting was held to discuss plans for making West Philly’s 52nd Street Corridor safer, cleaner, and greener, with input from residents and business owners.
PHILADELPHIA - Community members and local business owners gathered Thursday, March 5 to discuss plans to improve safety, transit and the overall environment along West Philadelphia’s 52nd Street corridor.
Community meeting explores safety and transit upgrades for 52nd Street
What we know:
The 52nd Street corridor is a key commercial area in West Philadelphia, connecting important neighborhoods and serving as a major transit route, according to Stephen Bronskill, a member of Transit Forward Philadelphia. Bronskill said, "This is West Philly's main street. It is a critical commercial corridor."
He also noted, "It links really important communities in West Philly." The corridor is part of SEPTA’s rapid transit network and is served by the 52 bus, which Bronskill described as "a great bus but sometimes slow. It gets bunched up. The streetscape here, improving it could be a big benefit to transit riders speeding up their commute times."
The city and The Enterprise Center CDC presented design ideas based on community feedback, including curb extensions, raised crosswalks, transit improvements, and better parking and loading options.
Tiffany O., senior director at The Enterprise Center CDC, said, "We don't want decisions to be made for the community. We want the community to have a say in what the street is going to look like, are they going to have bus lanes, are they going to have medians down the middle of 52nd Street."
The corridor faces significant safety challenges, with Kelley Yemen, director of the Office of Multimodal Planning, stating, "It's also in our high injury network, which means it has an outsized number of fatalities and serious injuries, so we are working to make it safer."
Business owners and residents voiced their priorities, with Helen Jones Goodwin, a small business owner, saying, "I think it is definitely something that's needed cause I have a small business in the area on 51st and Pine, a travel agency, and I wanted to come in and see the improvements about the buses and the sidewalks and the streets and everything."
Resident Allegra Dingle said, "I'd love to see more trees. I'd love to see safer sidewalks and crosswalks, especially along this route. It seems a lot of people are jaywalking across the street waiting for really long light."
The proposed changes would affect 52nd Street between Arch and Pine.
Residents were encouraged to fill out exit surveys at the meeting and can also submit feedback through an online survey on the Streets Department website.
City timeline and next steps for the project
The city is targeting 2027 to 2028 to complete final designs, secure funding and begin construction.
Residents will have further opportunities to provide feedback as the planning process continues.
The project aims to address both safety and quality of life for those who live, work and travel along 52nd Street, with the city and community organizations emphasizing the importance of local input.
What we don't know:
It is not yet clear which specific design features will be included in the final plans, how much funding will be allocated or when construction will officially start.
The Source: Information from FOX 29 reporting and interviews at the community meeting.