Philly Advocates Score Initial Win In Fight for Safer Bike Lanes

Religious institutions will no longer be able to legally park in a critical bike lane in Philadelphia — a critical victory for advocates who had mobilized to fight the exemption after a crash killed a cyclist who had been riding in a bike lane.

Philly Bike Action recently announced that leaders at Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel had withdrawn a special city parking permit that granted its congregants special exemption to block the Spruce Street bike lane on days when the shul held services. The group says that the synagogue is the seventh and final house of worship to have done so, and that Spruce Street is finally “open for bikes seven days of the week.”

That dangerous parking exemption drew national attention following the death of 30-year-old Barbara Friedes, a doctor was killed by a drunk driver who sped over a row of flimsy plastic posts and into the Spruce Street bike lane, striking her at roughly twice the legal speed limit.

Friedes, who worked with pediatric oncology patients, was killed on a Wednesday and the lane in which she road was unobstructed by worshippers, but her death drew attention to the many infrastructure and policy failures that make conditions along Spruce so dangerous even on days when services aren’t being held. Local advocates delivered 5,200 signatures on petition calling for an end to the legacy parking policy, along with real protection along the lane like concrete bollards.

“Speaking as a pediatrician, we see children who are hit come into our emergency department, who have been struck by cars with life-threatening injuries,” said Dr. Kelly McNult, who worked as alongside Friedes at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in an interview with Philadelphia’s WVPI news. “Not only do they have to go through the physical trauma and pain, there’s also the mental trauma that stays with them.”

With one item on the petition down, Philadelphia advocates have shifted their focus to getting real protected bike lanes installed — and not only on Spruce.

In a disturbing twist, a second vulnerable road user, Christopher Cabrera, was killed on a different road in the City of Brotherly Love at almost the exact same time as Friedes was killed; in his case, the motorist drove through the flex-posts and struck him as he stood behind a parked van. A third Philadelphia pedestrian was seriously injured the same day, and a 2-year-old girl, Madison Morales, was killed while being pushed in a stroller by her mother just three days later.

Now, Philly Bike Action is rallying cyclists to testify to the need for more infrastructure investments throughout Philadelphia, including $1.5 million in Vision Zero funds — and thanking their partners in the religious community for clearing the way for that critical conversation.

“The actions of [Beth Zion Beth Israel] and the other religious institutions will make Spruce and Pine Streets safer for all residents,” Jessie Amadio, vice chair of Philly Bike Action, said in a statement. “Now that these organizations have identified other parking arrangements, the city can proceed with installing concrete protection, protecting a key artery for bike riders and
achieving a major milestone in the goal of a Safer, Cleaner, and Greener Philadelphia.

“For Dr. Barbara Friedes, for Christopher Cabrera, for Madison Yuliet Morales — we won’t stop fighting until we reach zero traffic deaths,” Amadio concluded.