Schuylkill Banks Closed at Chestnut

The Repairs Are Necessary; the Signage Sucks.

Barge and utility craft next to the repair site.

The sinkhole on the Schuylkill Banks is getting repaired. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's going to take a couple of months. Well, actually, the really bad news is that the detours are very badly signed.

The worksite.

The signage blocking off the work area is okay. 

A simple message, clearly stated.

But the wayfinding is spotty and at times misleading. Here's a sign on Market telling cyclists to turn down 23rd Street. It's okay, but not all turns are marked. 

Market turning to 23rd.

And then there's this signage at Locust and 25th, which appears to be telling a bicyclist heading the wrong way down Locust Street to turn left and head the wrong way down 25th Street. I think I've figured out what's going on here. This sign belongs over on the Schuylkill Banks, near the exit gates that send you over the train tracks. That way bicyclists heading up from the South Street Bridge would actually have an indication that they should take a detour. Before they get to the fence and the sign at Chestnut Street.

Locust at 25th.

I would say, overall, that the signage is better heading south from Market than it is heading north from Locust. 

As I understand the routes being recommended, cyclists headed southbound, or downriver, from Market should turn on 23rd and head down to Walnut and turn right on Walnut to get to the stairs that lead down to the Schuylkill Banks. The Bicycle Coalition disagrees, recommending that cyclists continue down to Spruce and loop back up 25th to the Locust Street gates. I agree. It's safer.

Heading northbound, I'm pretty sure the official recommendation is to exit at Locust, go over to the 22nd Street bike lane, and head up 22nd to Market. Again, the Bike Coalition differs, recommending that cyclists stay on 22nd to the Race Street entrance. I'm agnostic here.

What I think would help greatly would be some laminated wayfinding maps that allowed people to visualize their odyssey before they ventured off into what, for many of them, will be unfamiliar or even unknown territory. 

And I think we need to look at 23rd Street between Market and Walnut. Everybody is telling bicyclists to use this street. These two blocks are, in my opinion, two of the scariest blocks in Philadelphia. I think we've even been here before. It strikes me that there was briefly a temporary bike lane on 23rd between Market and Chestnut. As I recall, it didn't last long. I think it's time to revisit this issue, and call for a temporary bike lane to carry the detour along 23rd from Market to Walnut. 

And frankly I would keep the bike lane going down 23rd, at least to Spruce and possibly to South Street. The traffic on this street is wild, and would be a lot calmer if there were only one lane for motor-vehicle traffic instead of two. We've already done this on Pine and Spruce, and we know it works.

See also A Reopening.