We Believe Deeply in Bicycle Safety.  

Many of us living in the Kingsessing, Woodland and Cedar Park neighborhoods, are cyclists ourselves. We support thoughtful investments in bicycle infrastructure and agree that protecting cyclists is essential. Safer biking benefits everyone—reducing congestion, improving air quality, and creating healthier neighborhoods.

But Safety Must Work for Everyone

Unfortunately, the current 47th Street redesign is not achieving that goal, instead causing direct harm and even putting cyclists in harm's way. 

Since the project implementation, residents on the surrounding streets have experienced noticeable increases in speeding, heavy truck and cut-through traffic, as well as serious crashes. Streets that were once generally calm and predictable now feel unsafe for residents: families, seniors, and children.

Recent Alarming Crash Incidents on 47th Street:

• A Christmas Eve crash in front of the Ice Cream shop that sent a vehicle into a home and nearly killed a cyclist
• https://www.fox29.com/news/southwest-philly-crash-damages-business-home-christmas-eve.amp
• An overturned vehicle crash on April 10, 2026 near that same ice cream shop where our children sit to enjoy a waffle cone
• Update: Tracking new crashes on April 14th and April 16th at 47th and Osage and 47th and Pine
• Collisions, near-miss incidents between fast moving e-bikes, scooters and pedestrians—including small children—in the new bike lanes

These are not isolated concerns—they are warning signs that the current design is not functioning as intended.

Unintended Consequences of Redesign
At the same time, the redesign has created barriers for some of our most vulnerable neighbors:

• Elderly and disabled individuals with mobility challenges lost ADA accessibility and safe loading space for SEPTA Paratransit Vans 
• The bottleneck effect of the single narrow travel lane is causing EMT delays and vehicle damage from sideswiping incidents
•  Our busy senior centers and community institutions face new logistical challenges for disabled visitors and elderly staff to park nearby
• Narrowed through travel lane on 47th Street left no buffer space for residents, making it risky to enter or exit a parked vehicle
• Adjacent streets are experiencing increasing cut-through traffic with heavy truck noise and vibration and aggressive speeding cars. 

We Have Concerns about the Design Process: 

• The City did not conduct any context-specific design/engineering study, cumulative impact analysis or a diversion route traffic study prior to implementation
• Approximately 6000 daily cars have been rerouted to the adjacent, already overburdened streets in a federally designated, disadvantaged neighborhood, which is inequitable
• Key stakeholders—including a local school, senior center, churches, recreation center, transit providers, and local small businesses—were not meaningfully engaged early in the planning process
• Community feedback raised over the past two years wasn't considered in the final design, resulting in new hazards and unsafe conditions  

We recognize designing safe streets is complex. We are not asking to abandon bike safety — we are asking to get it right.

We respectfully call on the City to:

1. Conduct an immediate, independent safety review of the 47th/48th Street redesign, including historical crash data, inequitable traffic diversion, ADA and pedestrian impacts
2. Implement short-term safety fixes where urgent risks are evident: replace the problematic 47th Street speed tables, install an overhead flashing beacon at the St. Francis intersection, replace the school zone speed bumps on Springfield, and deploy LED radar speed signs for traffic calming
3. Restore safe, ADA-accessible access points for seniors, people with disabilities, and SEPTA Access and Paratransit vehicle users
4. Expand PPD traffic enforcement immediately to target speeding and reckless driving, and to crack down on ghost plates and stolen car theft 
5. Pass legislation requiring all E-Bikes & Scooters to be registered and insured, and levy fines for speeding w/in city limits in bike lanes or on trails.  

For Future Complete Streets Projects on Residential Streets

The City must commit to independent oversight of the planning process for future Complete Streets projects and to create a set of checklists to complete prior to implementation: 

• Commit to resident notification, similar to the zoning variance review process, for future Complete Streets projects
• Document contact with all stakeholders—local fire station, residents, churches, senior center, schools, transit providers and businesses—to ensure inclusive engagement during initial planning stage
• Conduct cumulative impact assessments, ADA accessibility review, diversion traffic studies and context-specific design analysis for major street reconfigurations in a transparent, solutions-focused process
• Coordinate with EMT's, Transit providers and Sanitation companies on required street dimensions and turning widths 
• Include Fire Department Code Officer during preplanning to ensure IFC access route compliance and avoid EMT delays 
• Prioritize Vision Zero funding on remediation of risk on the 12% of High Injury Network Streets as per PennDOT designation 
• When significant community concerns are evident, conduct an Independent review of major roadway reconfiguration plan 

Our goal is simple:  Safe, Equitable, Accessible, Streets...for Everyone –  We invite you to join S.E.A.S.E.

A safer, more inclusive street design that works for everyone—cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, seniors, children, and people with disabilities alike.  We believe our city can do better—and we stand ready to be constructive partners in getting there.

If you share these concerns and want a safer, more balanced solution for 47th Street, please sign and support this petition.
Leave a comment to share your stories of near-miss incidents on 47th or 48th Street or if you were injured from a collision with a speeding E-Bike.