Despite promises to make the city’s roadways safer for pedestrians and cyclists, the proposed budget slashes Vision Zero funding nearly in half.
The first proposed budget under Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker dramatically cuts funding for Vision Zero efforts, reports Thomas Fitzgerald in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The new budget brings the Vision Zero commitment down from $15 million to $9 million over the next six years. “Safety advocates have raised concerns, chiefly that there will be fewer transformative street redesigns such as ‘road diets,’ the narrowing of traffic lanes; improving sight lines at intersections by removing parking around intersections; and bicycle lanes.”
The proposed budget does include new speed enforcement cameras along Broad Street, a roadway with a high rate of injury crashes. “A state law enacted last December authorizes the city to set up speed-enforcement cameras on five dangerous traffic corridors, adding to those already stationed along Roosevelt Boulevard. Crashes, injuries and average traffic speeds have dropped there.”
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