Protected bike lane on Chestnut Street (archived photo).

Some street improvement work is coming this year to Chestnut and Walnut streets in West Philadelphia. The Chestnut-Walnut Traffic Safety project is expected to kick off this spring and will include Chestnut Street from 34th to 63rd Street, and Walnut Street from 22nd Street to 63rd Street. More than six miles are expected to be repaved as part of this project.

The project will also include improvements of the existing bike lanes on both streets. A protected bike lane was built on a portion of Chestnut Street (between 45th and 34th) in 2017. It is expected that the lane will be extended to 63rd Street. One of the goals of the project is to increase safety for bicyclists by separating them from motor vehicle traffic.

Other goals include construction of shorter and safer pedestrian crossings, improvement of parking and loading operations, and calming traffic by decreasing speeding and aggressive driving on these streets.

The project is coordinated by the City’s Streets Department and is implemented by PennDOT.