Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Advocates gathered at 34th and Market Streets on Friday to demand the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation improve pedestrian and cyclist safety along the busy stretch of Market in University City<\/a>.<\/p>\n Market Street is among the 12% of Philadelphia roads that account for 80% of traffic deaths and serious injuries<\/a> in the city, according to city statistics. Just in November, two pedestrians, Meaza Brown and Rosa Mar Espinosa Rodas, were killed<\/a> in hit-and-run crashes near Market\u2019s intersection with 34th a week apart. <\/p>\n Philly Bike Action is asking PennDot to take five steps to improve safety on Market Street, particularly between 38th Street and the Schuylkill<\/a>: install speed cushions, adjust traffic-signal timing to give pedestrians a head start before vehicles begin moving, place physical barriers along the median, and reduce the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. These measures, they say, are proven to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety. <\/p>\n Gabriel Straus, an organizer with Philly Bike Action, said each measure could be implemented within 60 days and should form part of a longer-term plan to make Market Street safer for pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n The advocacy group\u2019s longer-term proposal calls for implementing a road diet, building concrete medians filled with greenery, and constructing a two-way concrete protected cycle-path. <\/p>\n \u201cPotential safety enhancements on Market Street West will be reviewed through the department\u2019s continued collaboration with the City,\u201d a PennDot spokesperson said. \u201cA substantial reconstruction or reconfiguration of Market Street West would require a comprehensive analysis, as well as coordination among PennDot, the City of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, SEPTA<\/a>, and other affected stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n David Brindley, 57, a volunteer with the urbanist advocacy group 5th Square, lives in West Philadelphia<\/a> with his family. When his children started fifth grade at Science Leadership Academy and walked from their home in West Philadelphia, he and his wife would sheepishly call the school each morning to make sure they had arrived safely.<\/p>\n His fears are well-founded. <\/p>\n Jasmine Hoffman is among those whose families have lost children to traffic violence. Hoffman\u2019s 8-year-old niece, Jayanna Powell, was killed in a hit-and-run crash in 2016<\/a> while walking home from the Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School.<\/p>\n