In the wake of the tragic death of 25-year-old Avante Reynolds, a pedestrian killed on Cobbs Creek Parkway last month, and the demand for changes from the community, PennDOT and the city’s Streets Department have agreed to carry out safety improvements on the Parkway. The decision was announced today during a meeting with elected officials from West Philadelphia that included State Sen. Anthony Williams, State Rep. Joanna McClinton, and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

PennDOT will begin installing multiple improvements within the next month, including rumble strips along the center lanes along the Parkway from Girard Avenue to Baltimore Avenue. A new style of rumble strip technology will be used which minimizes noise and nuisance to neighboring residents. 

At appropriate locations between Delancey Street and Florence Avenue, PennDOT will install “lane separators,” slightly-raised blocks with delineators that will be placed diagonally across portions of the center lanes where driving is not permitted. These will provide further physical barriers to people driving into the portions of the road with the double yellow lines, where driving should not be taking place.

Finally, PennDOT will reduce lane widths at a number of locations, add pedestrian crossing markings and install other forms of safety signage.

In Spring 2021, PennDOT plans to upgrade safety warning signage and install a high-friction surface treatment up and down the Parkway at appropriate curve locations as an additional method of signaling to drivers that they need to slow down. PennDOT and the Streets Department will also work on redesigning the current guiderail system, and begin the planning needed for more permanent traffic calming solutions.

“We know that these measures will not satisfy anyone who is already angry about the state of pedestrian safety along Cobbs Creek Parkway, and understandably so,” a joint statement from Williams, McClinton and Gauthier reads. “This has been a concern for many years, and we are frustrated that it’s not being treated with the urgency it deserves. There is more than enough evidence to show that major interventions will be necessary to change traffic patterns and enhance safety measures.”