I doubt they'll actually publish this, but it sure felt good to write it! From: C To: City Paper, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer Date: Friday, 04/05/02 Subject: West River Drive: Closed or Open?
To the Editor: Well, the time of year has come to turn over some of car-clogged Philadelphia to non-motorized users. In case you haven't guessed, it's April, and that means West River Drive, in Fairmount Park, is again closed to cars from 7 AM to 5 PM, Saturdays and Sundays. For a few blessed months, it's safe for walkers, runners, skaters, and parents teaching their children how to ride a bike, to venture back to the park. Gone is the smell, the noise, and the constant danger posed by speeding cars, at least on weekends on WRD. But wait!, you say. At noon, a wall of screaming, stinking cars comes roaring up the lower portion of WRD from the Art Museum area. What's up with this? Pedestrians and skaters flee from the road as the automotive terror approaches. Why is this allowed? Why is the safety of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of non-motorized road users sacrificed so that drivers won't be "inconvenienced"? Why isn't the entire length of WRD closed on weekends? Who makes these decisions? Ask the Fairmount Park Commission. Under pressure from the car-addicted faction, the Commission chose to re-open the lower portion of WRD to cars after the initial closure. Doesn't the Commission realize that it's a PARK, not a PARKING LOT? With Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill Expressway ready to serve speeding traffic, and the Strawberry Mansion Bridge open, there's no reason in the world to leave any of WRD open to cars during the "closure". It's time to pressure the Fairmount Park Commission into reinstating full closure of West River on the weekends. Cars have hundreds of miles of city streets to drive on, 24 hours a day. It's not too much to ask to give back 1.4 miles of WRD to non-motorized park users for 20 hours a week, is it? ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
