SOSNA’s Vision Zero committee is applying for a Neighborhood Slow Zone, which can implement traffic calming in an entire zone of residential streets.
The Neighborhood Slow Zone Program will:
Work with the neighbors to develop a plan for traffic calming that responds to critical safety issues;
Lower speed limits to 20MPH;
Install traffic calming measures (including possibly speed cushions and other options).
Proposed slow zone area:
We are proposing a Neighborhood Slow Zone bounded by:
South Street
15th Street
21st Street
Christian Street
Why these boundaries? Read more in our FAQ below.
We are seeking members of the community who live within the zone to please sign a petition to support this program! Your support is crucial in getting awarded this grant!
FAQ
What is the Neighborhood Slow Zone Program?
This is an initiative that the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (OTIS) is rolling out in an effort to improve safety in zones within a residential neighborhood. OTIS will review proposals from neighborhoods and will select two compelling zones that would benefit from safer streets. Slow Zones will receive speed-limit signs, cleared intersections, and traffic-calming measures like speed cushions.
What can a Slow Zone do?
A Slow Zone includes measures to slow down motor vehicle traffic by using speed bumps and speed-limit signs (20 mph), and clearing crosswalks so that pedestrians and cyclists are visible as they begin to cross, and so pedestrians can easily see oncoming vehicles.
Example:
Why does this specific area included in the proposal not include E.M. Stanton?
The Slow Zone project specifications tell us how to define the zones, and they only allow two-lane streets to be boundaries of the zones. This means that however we slice-and-dice the neighborhood, only one of our two public schools could have been in a single zone. We chose this particular area after an analysis of traffic crash data showed that this area has the highest number of crashes per street mile in the neighborhood - giving our application a better chance of success. In addition, the project specifications state the zone can only be a maximum of six blocks wide, and if the zone was moved westward, it would have included fewer crashes, hurting the chances of being awarded the grant. If SOSNA is awarded the slow zone, we can work with the City to tweak the boundaries as needed and choose which areas receive traffic calming measures in conjunction with the community and neighbors. For the application, however, we need to put our highest crash area in the submission.