Clean Air Council, FFP, 5th Square and BCGP Reveal Plan For Safe Streets During Reopening.

Clean Air Council, Feet First Philly, 5th Square, and the Bicycle Coalition unveiled a Recovery Streets platform to serve as a roadmap to safely transform street space in Philadelphia during and as we recover from COVID19.

This plan gives a menu of options for the types of solutions that the city should implement in the months ahead. While we applaud the City for its initial move to close MLK Drive to vehicle traffic, there has been little progress toward creating areas where people can safely be outside, or to address concerns regarding pedestrian safety along routes to essential businesses. These solutions will be increasingly more important as we start to recover from the COVID19 pandemic.

As businesses reopen, if these measures aren’t put into place Philadelphia will suffer worse congestion and gridlock than pre-COVID, and damages to air quality, road safety, and equity will be greater than before.

States are beginning to ease stay at home orders, and people are eager to be outside for necessity during the hot summer months, but they need to be able to do so safely. Unfortunately, pedestrian fatalities are nearly 88 percent higher in 2020 than this time last year. That is why now is the right time for Philadelphia to invest in its residents and implement measures that reduce crashes and keep pedestrians out of harm’s way.

Philadelphia’s COVID19 recovery is a chance for the City to be a leader in this space and move toward the Mayor’s Vision Zero Goals. Please take the time to read our Recovery Streets platform to learn how we believe the City of Philadelphia can be a leader in COVID19 recovery. Click here to read our full platform then sign our petition in support.