Parker avoids committing to protected Spruce-Pine bike lane after traffic deaths, Vision Zero cuts

During a Thursday appearance on radio station WHYY, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker expressed concern about a string of high profile pedestrian and bicyclist traffic deaths — but stopped short of committing to any specific city actions in response to these incidents.

In response to questions, she also argued that funding for the city’s Vision Zero traffic safety program has not been cut, following a $1.5 million reduction in Parker’s first budget, because $1.25 million in funds were added to the Streets Department budget for traffic calming measures.

“[I am] ensuring that Philadelphia makes good on its commitment to ensure that Vision Zero continues to be a priority for us,” Parker said on WHYY. “I’ve affirmed that publicly, our budget affirms that.”

Criminal charges were filed Thursday against 68-year-old Michael Vahey, who struck and killed 30-year-old pediatric resident Barbara Friedes while she was cycling July 17 down the Spruce Street bike lane in Center City. Police said Vahey had a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit and swerved into the bike lane at more than double the 25 mph speed limit, launching Friedes more than 20 feet in the air.

Friedes’ death was one of several vehicle-related fatalities or serious injuries in the span of five days across Philadelphia, which have galvanized traffic safety advocates.

On the same day the doctor was killed, a 26-year-old woman was critically injured by a driver in Germantown, and 38-year-old Christopher Cabrera was killed while crossing the street in Kensington after police said he was struck by a man driving under the influence of opioids.

Three days later a woman, her 13-year-old daughter and a 22-month-old were all struck and injured by another driver. The infant died from injuries sustained in the crash. On Sunday, a man was found lying dead in the street in the Frankford neighborhood — killed in what police described as a suspected hit-and-run.

Questioned about Friedes’ death and subsequent calls for change in the Thursday WHYY interview, Parker affirmed her support for traffic safety improvements generally.

“There are multiple traffic calming measures that are needed in neighborhoods across the city of Philadelphia,” she said. “In every ZIP code in the city, there is a great demand for traffic calming measures, and we’re going to do everything we can to ensure they’re enacted. And yes, protected bike lanes are a part of that.”

The mayor declined to specifically commit to adding protected buffers to the Spruce and Pine Street bike lanes — or detail any other specific projects or initiatives as a response to outrage over the incident.

“It’s just not one aspect that I want to take out and say, ‘This is the one thing’,” she said. “I support a comprehensive approach.”

After the interview, Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Parker, said in a statement that the administration “would consider next steps for additional traffic safety measures on city streets,” in consultation with “experts” in the Streets Department, the city’s Office of Transportation Infrastructure, the police, City Council and other “advocates for public safety.”

The crosstown Center City bicycle routes were built in 2009 under former Mayor Michael Nutter and are among the most heavily used in the city.

However, the lanes were built with no traffic dividers so that they could double as vehicle loading zones and overflow parking for places of worship on the weekend.

Flexible bollards were later added to turning areas — an element that a 2023 Department of Transportation study found could contribute to crashes unless paired with other safety features — and the majority of the lanes remain completely unprotected.

Minimalistic traffic safety features are popular with elected officials because they avoid conflicts with residents over reduction in parking and where to install loading zones, which ensure accessibility for elderly and disabled people, said Megan S. Ryerson, chair of the University of Pennsylvania’s City and Regional Planning Department.

Unprotected bike lanes “are seen as the most politically palatable way to move forward, even though we know it is not the safest for cyclists,” she said.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia attempted to get concrete barriers installed under Nutter, but the city rejected the proposal.

“There is little doubt that if that kind of barrier had existed here that Dr. Friedes might be alive today,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Thursday. “There is little doubt that that would have made a very substantial difference.”

» READ MORE: After a horrific crash killed a cyclist, advocates are again pushing for barriers between bike lanes and cars

Parker also addressed a caller identifying herself as the mother of a teenager killed in a 2020 incident on Henry Avenue, who questioned Parker’s decision to cut funding for the Vision Zero program, which seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate car-related fatalities.

Although Parker signed an executive order March 21 recommitting to Vision Zero goals, she also slashed the program’s funding from $2.5 million to $1 million. But she noted that another $1.25 million was added to the city’s Streets Department budget to cover traffic calming projects like speed cushions, which are small rubberized speed bumps. She also said the city allocated $3 million in state grants for automated speed enforcement cameras and would match funds from federal infrastructure grants.

The mayor did not give a specific explanation as to why Vision Zero’s budget was reduced or how a smaller increase in the Street’s Department’s budget did not amount to a cut.

“I made a lot of administrative decisions that were different from the previous administration,” she said. “I don’t consider it to be a budget cut.”

Ryseron disagreed.

“That seems like a cut of .25 million,” Ryerson said. “It’s certainly disappointing because we have seen what our city is capable of doing in terms of safe and efficient infrastructure when they’re empowered with resources.”

Later in the WHYY interview, Parker noted that she had a long track record of supporting automated traffic enforcement efforts — including red light camera bills both as a state legislator and in City Council.

The city plans to deploy speed cameras to North Broad Street, which is among the most crash-prone streets in the city. Separately, the Parker administration has backed police initiatives along North Broad and elsewhere to boost traffic citations, which an Inquirer report found had plummeted over 92% since the 1990s.

Despite its pedestrian-friendly reputation, a 2023 report from the city’s Vision Zero office found that Philadelphia recorded far more vehicle-related deaths than other dense East Coast cities, like Boston or New York, ranking closer to auto-centric areas, like Los Angeles, in terms of safety.

“Transportation safety, engineering and planning is a science where we know exactly how certain designs make people behave,” Ryerson said. “I would really like to see us moving away should we fund this or that and really start looking at the science when we design roads.”