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PB led the design of Cobbs Creek Bikeway through both the preliminary
and final phases. Preliminary design involved urban planning,
public involvement and environmental permitting. Final design
focused on engineering and preparation of construction plans and
specifications. The project qualified for 80 percent federal funding
as part of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program,
and the remaining portion was funded by the city of Philadelphia.
The city is experienced with CMAQ projects because it has been
administering more than $3 million dollars of program funds to
plan and implement a citywide bicycle network with bike lanes,
off-road trails, and bicycle parking facilities. Although the
Cobbs Creek Bikeway will be integrated with the citywide network,
it had its own specific needs and goals.
Multi-Purpose Project Needs
In order to qualify for the CMAQ funds, the project needed to
meet certain program criteria.
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Air Quality Improvement.
By providing commuters an alternate mode of transportation,
the project will reduce automobile emissions and improve air
quality.
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Access to Job Sites and
Public Transportation. U.S. Census data compiled by the
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission show that many
residents of west Philadelphia who live and work in the area
drive personal vehicles to their jobs, and that a relatively
low median family income exists in the area. This reliance on
personal vehicles can be expensive and illustrates a need for
a bicycle trail that links resident workers to their job sites
and to other public modes of transportation. The bikeway provides
a north-south corridor along the western edge of the city that
greatly improves access to the area's network of buses, trolleys
and elevated rail.
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Recreation. In addition
to functioning as a transportation facility, the bikeway will
undoubtedly be used for recreation by residents of the many
communities along the corridor.
A substantial portion of the project will be located within Cobbs
Creek Park, which is part of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park System
one of the largest municipal park systems in the U.S. Open entirely
to the public, Cobbs Creek Park features baseball, football and
soccer fields; basketball, street hockey and tennis courts; an
ice skating rink; several playgrounds; a recreation center; and
two golf courses. The park also contains several historic sites
and structures, some dating back to the seventeenth century. The
park commission wanted the bikeway to showcase and improve access
to the many amenities that Cobbs Creek Park has to offer.
Getting Everyone Involved
From project inception, we identified that one of the keys to
a successful design would be our ability to solicit involvement
and cooperation from the many groups and agencies involved. The
list of agencies was extensive for a project of this relatively
small size:
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The Fairmount Park Commission
owns and maintains Cobbs Creek Park and, thus, would own and
maintain any path constructed in it.
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The City of Philadelphia
Capital Program Office was responsible for implementing the
project--including approving our construction plans and bidding
the job.
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Philadelphia Department of
Streets' approval was needed for bicycle lanes located on public
streets.
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The Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation (PENNDOT) was responsible for administrating
the CMAQ program funds and insuring compliance with procedures
for federal aid projects.
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The Philadelphia Historical
Commission needed to determine if the project would have any
effect on the historical resources in the park and the surrounding
area.
Our design team needed to maintain open channels of communication
with all of these agencies throughout the predesign and final
design process.
Public involvement was also identified as a key element for project
success. As part of the predesign phase, public workshops and
meetings were held at different locations along the bikeway route
to hear comments and concerns from residents and community groups
and to answer their questions. The following list summarizes the
primary issues raised by the public:
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Location of bikeway route
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User safety and security
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Impacts to existing trees
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Prevention of unauthorized
motor vehicles
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Bikeway identification and
signing
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Maintenance plans.
We documented all public comments and discussed them with the
city and PENNDOT. Our next task was to adjust and refine the bikeway
design and alignment in response to the issues that were identified.
Establishing the Route Alignment
Market Street was identified as the best location for the northern
terminus of the bikeway. The Market Street Elevated Rail Line,
the primary east-west transit facility in the city, allows users
to travel east directly into the heart of downtown Philadelphia.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
welcomes bicycles on this rail line at all times except weekday
mornings and afternoon peak hours. An existing station at the
intersection of Market Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway (typically
the eastern boundary of the park) allows easy intermodal transfer
between bikeway and rail line.
The southern terminus of the route was easily established as the
Philadelphia International Airport. Roughly 20,000 airport employees
live within 8 km (5 miles) of the airport, and many would be able
to use the bikeway for their commutes. In addition, direct bikeway
access to the airport further enhances the multimodal features
of the facility for travelers.
The total resulting bikeway length is approximately 13.7 km (8.5
miles). Cobbs Creek Park, however, extends only approximately
6 km (4 miles) south of Market Street and, thus, only half way
to the airport. Project funding constraints prevented land acquisition
for path construction south of the park boundary. In response,
the design team broke the bikeway into two components. The northern
segment is an off-road, multi-use path constructed entirely within
Cobbs Creek Park. The southern segment consists of designated
bicycle lanes on city streets created by using pavement markings
and signs.
Designing for Safety
Although the off-road path and the bicycle lanes in the city streets
were both segments of the same bikeway, they were different in
nature and required different design criteria.
Off-Road, Multi-Use Path. This path will primarily be
constructed adjacent to public streets in place of existing sidewalk
along the eastern edge of Cobbs Creek Park in highly visible areas.
Although some path construction through wooded areas is unavoidable,
using existing sidewalk locations minimizes the need for tree
removal and clearing, and utility relocations. The path will incorporate
the following design components:
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Minimum width of 3.6 m (12
feet)
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Bi-directional traffic
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Use by pedestrians, in-line
skaters and bicyclists, but not by motorized vehicles
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Bituminous pavement
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Graded shoulders of 0.6
m (2 feet)
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Pavement marking and signing
at hazards.
Figure 1: Cobbs Creek Bikeway (top: path replacing existing
sidewalk, typical section; bottom: Path through wooded area,
typical section) |
The path needed to accommodate both experienced and beginning
bicyclists. The 3.6-m (12-foot) typical width allows for safe
passing of slower moving users or groups. Pavement markings and
advanced signing alerts path users of approaching hazards, such
as street crossings, sharp curves and steep grades. Steel bollards
at 1.5-m (5-foot) spacing will be placed across the path near
street crossings to allow entry by bicycles and pedestrians while
preventing entry by automobiles. Typical sections of the multi-use
path are shown in Figure 1.
Bicycle Lanes in City Streets. South of the park, bicycle
lanes will be constructed entirely within public city streets
and bicyclists will travel on the same roadways with motor vehicles.
The Philadelphia Department of Streets had already installed bicycle
lanes at other locations throughout the city and assisted our
design team in identifying "bicycle friendly"streets
that provide the best route for connecting the multi-use path
in Cobbs Creek Park with the Philadelphia International Airport.
This segment incorporated the following design factors:
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Lanes of 1.5 m (5 feet) in
width
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One-directional traffic,
adjacent to motor vehicles
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Use by bicyclists only
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Utilization of streets with
low motor vehicle traffic where possible
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Pavement markings and signing
to identify bikeway route and designated lanes.
Ideal streets possessed adequate width to provide two 1.5-m (5-foot)
-wide bicycle lanes, two or more 3-m (10-foot) -wide motor vehicle
lanes, and 2-m (7-foot) -wide vehicle parking areas (where required).
Where no street with adequate width was available, shared lanes
for both bicycles and motor vehicles were designed. Typical sections
of the bicycle lanes in streets are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Cobbs Creek Bikeway (top: bike lane in street
with parking, typical section; bottom: bike lane in street
without parking, typical section) |
Fitting Into the Network
Philadelphia's citywide bicycle network routes were designed
to accommodate commuter and recreational cyclists by creating
links to major sites related to employment, recreation, culture,
tourism, retail and institutions. Although the Cobbs Creek Bikeway
design was not part of this citywide plan, its north-south route
along the southwestern edge of the city fits in well with the
network.
Most of the existing and planned bicycle lanes in the southwestern
part of the city are aligned in either an east-west or northeast-southwest
direction. The general north-south alignment of the bikeway
will link at least eight of these existing and planned network
bicycle lanes, including those on some of the major streets
in southwest Philadelphia, such as Spruce Street, Baltimore
Avenue, Woodland Avenue and Island Avenue.
High Expectations
Working closely with the City of Philadelphia, PENNDOT and community
groups, we are completing the design of the Cobbs Creek Bikeway
to meet the wide range of project needs. This bikeway will provide
links to other modes of public transportation, improve air quality
by reducing auto traffic and enhance recreational opportunities
in public parklands.
The city is eager to move forward with this project, and has
already asked us to perform a feasibility study for an extension
of the path in Cobbs Creek Park. Final design completion is
scheduled in April of 2002, with construction anticipated to
begin the following July.
For more information about the city of Philadelphia Bicycle
Network, visit the following Web sites:
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