We admit it, the Philadelphia street grid makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. When the grid breaks down though, we have problems; heck, we still get lost about 30% of the time we go to Fishtown. South Philly is pretty safe, grid-wide, with the notable exceptions of Moyamensing Avenue, Point Breeze Avenue, and Passyunk Avenue diagonaling things up for everyone. Sometimes, those diagonal streets hit the grid in such a way that a scary and chaotic intersection gets created. Which brings us to the six-point intersection of Reed Street, 10th Street, and Passyunk Avenue.
This intersection sucks for everyone. Drivers get impatient and sometimes get stuck in the middle of the intersection. Pedestrians, especially considering the number of people from outside the neighborhood visiting Passyunk Avenue, can get confused. And as an added bonus, there's some metal tracks in the street from a discontinued trolley line to make bike travel a little more dangerous.
Finally, it seems the City has recognized that this intersection could stand to see some improvement, and a project is now underway to make it safer. According to Passyunk Post, the $400K project will expand curbs to reduce crossing distances, add pedestrian signals, improve sidewalks, and include other traffic-calming efforts. There aren't plans for any greenery to be added, but PARC is attempting to at least get some tree pits to be used at a later date. The project, when we passed by the other day, was humming along.
Hopefully, this project will make this intersection safer for everyone. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it will include covering up the old trolley tracks- so bikers will need to remain vigilant. Who knows, maybe the trolley will come back some day.