Between trolleys, tracks and cars, Baltimore Avenue can be a tough place to ride.
Are Baltimore Avenue and Spruce Street in West Philly among the worst places in the city to ride a bike?
The good folks at the Philadelphia Weekly think so. In “The Five Best (and Worst) places to Bike in Philly,” writer Daniel Denvir pans the two streets because of the proximity of parked cars to bike lanes. He writes of Baltimore Avenue:
Baltimore Avenue, the main drag of queer, anarchist, vegan, crusty West Philly? It couldn’t be—but it is! I know two people who have had car doors opened into them, one of whom broke her collarbone. A sleepy side street where you can bike down the middle of the road may be slower than a big street bike lane, but it is always safer to bike without parked cars immediately to your right.
First, we have no problem with queer, anarchist, vegan or crusty (that’s one of the reasons why we live here) but, dude, have you been to West Philly lately?
Baltimore and Spruce (along with Kensington Avenue and “all those bike lanes next to parked cars”) rank fourth on the list of the worst behind the Ben Franklin Parkway, Girard Avenue and Greys Ferry Bridge.
We’re not sure if they are among the worst streets in the city. But getting doored does suck.
June 16th, 2011 at 11:13 am
That hill on Spruce Street (between 43rd and 41st) is a killer, though. After a week of huffing and puffing up Spruce, I switched to Locust and have used it ever since. (Now, to get rid of the bike ban on Locust Walk . . .)
June 16th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
With the trolley tracks, weird intersections, potholes, wandering pedestrians, double-parkers and trees, I’d have to vote for 40th-50th Baltimore Ave as one of the most dangerous streets in the city, particularly in the late afternoon when the shadows play tricks with visibility. Coming off the Spring Garden Bridge inbound to the Art Museum Circle during the morning rush is not for the faint of heart either.
June 17th, 2011 at 9:15 am
I got doored a few days ago on Baltimore between 45th and 46th. I saw the door open but couldn’t swerve out of the way because of the trolley tracks. What a nightmare! I walked away from the crash, but my bike sustained serious damage.
June 17th, 2011 at 9:16 am
I just had to stop for some pedestrians j-walking at the 4700 block of Baltimore. I felt bad calling out ‘Yo!” as I slammed on the breaks, because they were pushing a baby stroller, but between parked cars and trolley tracks, you don’t exactly have many options as a cyclist, when others ignore right-of-way.