HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- Evelyn Hunt's reaction when Harrisburg paused a plan to remove State Street on-street parking spaces in favor of a new bike lane?
"Finally, somebody is listening," Hunt, who owns an apartment building at the intersection of 19th and State, told abc27 News in April.
Cycling advocate Brandon Basom's reaction to that reaction?
"They listen to the some of the citizens when they want to, generally when it feeds into the whole car dependency that is our current system," Basom said Wednesday, commenting on a revised plan that preserves all the parking and and all five travel lanes (two each direction plus a turning lane) but ditches the dedicated bike lane.
After several pedestrian deaths and a cyclist death along less than a mile-long stretch of road, State Street was ranked one of America's most dangerous streets.
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A world-famous city planner, Jeff Speck, told abc27 News in April the city didn't have to choose between parking and a bike lane as long as it reduced the number and width of lanes on State Street, which he said it should do anyway because the extra width was unsafe and unnecessary, regardless of the need for parking or a bike lane.
"They were going to take it from five driving lanes down to three, and reducing lanes would have slowed traffic, which would have prevented not only bicyclists from dying but pedestrians as well," Basom said.
So why did the extra lanes win out over the bike lane? Because PennDOT -- which, because State Street is a state road, must approve the new design -- wouldn't accept a three-lane design, Maisel said.
Given that constraint, "When the city of Harrisburg went back to the drawing board on State Street, we did so with two central goals: make it safer for neighborhood residents and maintain parking for everyone who lives there," Maisel said. "This plan, which we are presenting to PennDOT and city council, achieves that."
Maisel said features including better-timed traffic lights, raised crosswalks, beacons and (despite the preservation of all five lanes) narrower lanes -- 11 feet wide instead of 12 -- will make the road safer. (Maisel's full statement to abc27 News is below.)
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PennDOT spokesman Dave Thompson confirmed the agency's objection to a three-lane road, which (because of delivery trucks and parents dropping off and picking up children at school) he said would be more dangerous -- not safer -- than a five-lane road, although he said the agency could revisit its position after construction on a nearby span of I-83 is complete. (Thompson's full statement to abc27 News is below.)
Bike lane skeptics like Hunt and some city leaders have said few people bike along State Street anyway.
Basom said he doesn't dispute that. And that, he said, is the point.
"It is true that very few people bike on State Street," Basom said, "Because it is terrifying and a death trap."
"The issue is, there's nowhere safe to do it," he said.
Not hyperbole, Basom said.
"My friend [Leyla Monroy] was just killed coming back from work, going down Market Street," he said. (An abc27 News report of a memorial event for Monroy last weekend included video of Basom in attendance.)
To be clear: That accident happened on Market Street, not State Street. Basom said a contiguous dedicated bike lane along one road in that part of the city would provide a safe option for cyclists using any nearby roads.
Citing a philosophy of planners like Speck, Basom questioned the premise that wider roads alleviate vehicle traffic.
"It is called 'induced demand,'" Basom said. "Whatever you make more of, you get more demand for. If you put more car lanes, then you get more congestion, because it brings more drivers.... You put more bike lanes, and you make it easier to bike than to drive? More people bike."
Statement from Matt Maisel, city of Harrisburg spokesman:
When the city of Harrisburg went back to the drawing board on State Street, we did so with two central goals: make it safer for neighborhood residents and maintain parking for everyone who lives there. This plan, which we are presenting to PennDOT and city council achieves that. Traffic lights will be timed better. Raised crosswalks will be more clearly marked and will act as a visual cue for drivers to slow down. Lanes will be more narrow. There will be flashing beacons for drivers to slow down and stop at non-signaled intersections. We also anticipate a net gain in parking spaces because parking spots will be marked off every 21 feet.
Along the way, we've had to curtail our designs to what PennDOT would approve, as State Street is a state road. Given the upcoming construction on I-83, and State Street as a main detour artery, that meant maintaining a four-lane road with a middle turning lane.
For too long, the residents of Allison Hill have been ignored and their desires for a safer neighborhood have been cast aside. This plan will make State Street undoubtedly safer than what it is currently.
Matt Maisel, city of Harrisburg spokesman
Statement from Dave Thompson, PennDOT spokesman, expounding on his confirmation that the agency did not want to reduce the number of lanes on State Street:
The street still experiences high traffic volumes during peak morning and evening rush hours. Trucks making deliveries to local businesses often use one of the lanes for deliveries, and due to the location of schools along the corridor, parents dropping off or picking up their kids often double park in one of the lanes. Because of these situations, we felt reducing traffic to a single lane in each direction would be unsafe.
We may revisit this once the Capital Beltway project is completed and we determine that results in a reduction of traffic using State Street.
Dave Thompson, PennDOT spokesman
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