Take Back the Drive

On the morning of May 21st, a father and his 4-year-old son on a bicycle and "tag-along" were struck and critically injured by a car when crossing MLK (West River) Drive at the mid-block crosswalk below the Art Museum.

This horrible crash is the latest example of the dangers of a beautiful park road that has been allowed to become a throughway. It is time to make MLK Drive safe for park users.

Send Mayor Nutter a letter asking him to make MLK Drive safe for park users and then make a gift to support the Take Back the Drive Campaign.

Read Press Reports About this Campaign

05/26/09--Bicycle Coalition Calls for Action on MLK following last week's crash (Citypaper The Clog)

05/26/09--Bicyclists Promote Safety On MLK Drive (CBS3)

05/26/09--Good Morning Philadelphia: Cyclists Protest at Accident Site (Inquirer)

05/26/09--Bicycle Advocates Campaign Against Unsafe Drivers on MLK Drive (KYWNews)

05/26/09--Bike Group Pushes Safety on MLK Drive (FoxNews)

05/25/09--Organization Wants Bike-Only Lanes on Phila. Roadway (KYWNews)

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PROBLEM

MLK Drive is a park road running through the gem of Philadelphia's park system that has become a throughway. A road designed for cars has lead to:

Excessive speeding by motorists through a recreation area
Lack of traffic calming measures at the mid-block crossing
Narrowing of the "trail" to less than five feet crossing the MLK Bridge

SOLUTION

It is time to make MLK Drive safe for park users by:

Traffic calming by reducing MLK Drive to one lane, inbound and outbound, for its entire length
Installing bike lanes to further calm traffic, allow for unimpeded two-way trail traffic across the MLK Bridge and make the trail safer by allowing faster bicyclists to ride on the street
Closing the entire length of MLK Drive for recreational use on Saturday and Sunday from dawn to dusk and therefore avoid conflicts with cars at the crossing during peak trail use times

There are additional steps that can be taken to improve the MLK crosswalk immediately:

At the outbound entrance ramp from Eakins Oval, narrow the travel lane
Put out "yield to pedestrian" silent policeman signs in the crossing
Install soft rumble strips approaching each crosswalk
Install yield bars in front of each crosswalk
Install User Activated Pedestrian Flashing Warning Beacons
Install "Your Speed" Driver Feedback Signs on MLK Drive

TAKE ACTION

Send a letter to Mayor Nutter asking him to implement these solutions and return MLK Drive to a park road to avoid another crash like the one that happened on May 21.