The Consequences Of Philadelphia´s Subpar Roads
By: Jordan Seaford
January 25, 2023
Philly road infrastructure as it is now negatively impacts the way the city’s residents commute to and from school, work, and home. But despite these current circumstances, efforts are being made to improve these conditions and there are methods applied by other countries that could be more effective.
Friday, August 13 2022, Philadelphia announced that it received $25 million to fund a project called “Great Street PHL” with its ultimate goal being to eliminate traffic related deaths and injuries. And with these plans for the future, comes a need to address the issues with road safety presently plaguing the city.
Last year, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released traffic fatality data stating that in 2021, there were an estimated 42,915 deaths to motor vehicle crashes, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection marks the highest number of fatalities since 2005.
When consulting the community about this issue, Tatiana Sycamore, a student at George Washington Carver HSES spoke up saying that she's witnessed ¨people swerve their vehicle to avoid potholes and end up hitting another car¨. Her testimony alluded to a common complaint about the condition of the city's roads. Potholes are rampant throughout the streets of Philadelphia.
This website, The Pothole Facts, uses information from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) 2011 annual survey of state transportation officials, to state that potholes are responsible for about a third of traffic related deaths in the U.S. But Philly¨s road problems don't end there. The safety of pedestrians and bicyclists could be improved as well.
Pothole on 12th and Oxford St, Philadelphia (Has since been filled)
Philadelphia´s road design isn´t the most convenient for commuters who aren't in a car. Mr. Paul Wagenhoffer, A teacher at Carver HSES said that ¨the neighborhoods are a little more challenging to navigate though¨ and that there are ¨ too many spots without good sidewalks and bike lanes.¨ And these issues are detrimental to the overall safety of the city streets.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia reports that within Philadelphia, there has been a 40% increase in bicyclists killed between 2020 and 2021 and a 250% increase between 2019 and 2021, and they go on to say that ¨These figures show that the effort to build better bicycle lanes and calm streets must be accelerated and prioritized.¨
On a positive note, there have been efforts made across Pennsylvania to renovate road infrastructure. Mr. Wagenhoffer said that there has been ¨a lot of new construction on streets has led to changes to these types of lanes and more walkable spaces, for instance, the construction and road changes on American Street¨, and apparently, there's more to come.
According to the Philadelphia Tribune, “Improvements could include new, raised crosswalks, curb extensions to narrow the crossing distance, or new traffic signals”. While these renovations are beneficial, there are other countries who have been utilizing them more efficiently and more often within their cities.
When researching this topic, I came across a video describing some intelligent road design choices in the Netherlands that seem to greatly benefit the nation as a whole. In the Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam, every major street has a bike path paved red and there are protective curbs at every intersection. As a result, the nation's annual traffic crash deaths are in the hundreds, Far below that of the U.S. and many other countries. Evidently, these simple changes could bring a new era of public safety that the West has never experienced before.