Bicycle Coalition Education Fellow Katie Monroe Reflects on Fairmount Bike Lanes

In late June, two much-anticipated bike lanes were added along Fairmount Avenue. Katie Monroe, an Education Fellow at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (as well as a Voices of Philly.com contributor) wrote an article outlining the history of the proposed lanes, and championing these new additions to the Avenue as a valuable asset and safety measure for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers alike. You can read the full article on Philly.com here.

Back in April, GroundSwell interviewed Bicycle Coalition staff about their work across the Greater Philadelphia region, including their advocacy for the Fairmount bike lanes. In the year before the lanes were installed, the Coalition attended and facilitated civic association meetings in conjunction with the Mayor's office to ask residents what they thought of the proposed lanes, and to address any concerns they might have.  “Community engagement is important—we think it's important, and the Mayor's office thinks it's important,” said Communications Coordinator Nicholas Mirra.  “We don’t think that every street in Philadelphia needs a bike lane; what we want is a network.  Just like not every square inch needs to be a road, but you want roads spaced out in a way that allows people to get where they need to go."

So, what do you think? It's been a few weeks since the Fairmount lanes opened—have you had a chance to try them out, or noticed any positive changes in traffic? Let us know about your experience (and where else you love biking in Greater Philly) on Facebook and Twitter with hashtag #bikePHL.

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