Posted on 07/21/2013 2:44:32 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
A photograph by The Inquirer's Michael Bryant last week revealed most of what one needs to know about Philadelphia's Roosevelt Boulevard. The day after an alleged drag racer killed a woman and three children trying to cross the thoroughfare, it shows another woman clutching a child as she runs through traffic on the same stretch of road. The multilane Boulevard has exacted an inordinate pedestrian death toll for decades, and officials have promised to deal with it for almost as long. But as the photo illustrates, the road continues to encourage recklessness among drivers and pedestrians alike.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
I drove that road for 30 yrs from the Great Northeast to North Philly every day. It’s like the Daytona 500. Definitely not for beginners. In Philly there is no such thing as jaywalking. I saw many many an accident. My oldest daughter surely won’t forget when 2 guys on motor cycles ran a light and trust me it was not pretty. The guy flew over the hood and practically cut himself in half when he hit an unmovable light post. My daughter saw it all and probably will never drive or ride on a motor cycle.
Really, if crossing that road is so bad, maybe a few pedestrian bridges are in order.
Then they use them as a platform to throw chunks of concrete at the cars as they pass underneath.
No doubt, they are animals down there.
I just looked at an aerial view of Roosevelt at North Second Street. I would be very uncomfortable having to walk in that area. It does not look very pedestrian friendly at all.
The PRT's trolley system avoided it, and it wasn't until the first gasoline powered buses arrived in the Twenties that Roosevelt got public transportation. The purpose of the highway was to open up Northeast Philly to development not driven by either the Pennsy or Reading, who had rail lines feeding that part of town.
The Frankford El was a city project from the same era, as were a number of trolley lines built to feed the El. These projects permitted Northeast Philly to blossom after World War I.
I used to live off of Roosevelt in NE Philly (Bustleton Ave near Grant & “The Blvd”).
Many stretches of Roosevelt have the 6 lane highway itself and then there are 3 additional lanes on each side of Roosevelt...like “service” roads...that run parallel with the main road. Drivers have to use entry/exit lanes to merge onto the main part. Total of 12 lanes. You wind up with traffic that’s just shy of being a demolition derby. Introduce a pedestrian into that mayhem and it is just idiocy.
Folks that try to cross thru traffic or not at a crosswalk are just doing the world a favor exposing themselves to death.
used to live one block from there. lights few and far between. this road is many many miles long.
we were neighbors? i lived off of grant ave betwen 1982 and 84.
5th street n blvd 1976 to 82.
Replace the lyrics with, I want my country back.
Very catchy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntHVZdIZ7Vk
Can't remember exactly if they foresaw it attracting undesirables, or if it was retrofitted, in any event, it had an enclosed security post midway along one wall.
Maybe the signs telling her to use the crosswalk are in cursive.
Or maybe they just need to occasionally get run over to set an example for others. :-)
The only time I drove in Philly, I nearly killed four black people. They just walk across the street without even looking.
Also, I don’t know if it was some special day or what, but all kinds of people were grilling food in the curb lane.
Yup. She's crossing at one of those special crosswalks reserved for liberal black people.
I was there ‘78/79...then over to Wildwood for a summer...then off to other places. I miss those cheese steaks. And the Poconos.
I used to live off of Roosevelt in NE Philly (Bustleton Ave near Grant & “The Blvd”).
I miss Greenman’s deli for their hoagies and Casa DiNapoli across from Washington High for cheese steaks. Don’t miss much else about Philly though, except family.
Ping!
No matter what the laws are, it only takes one person to create disaster. There is a marked crosswalk on a 25 mph road near my office. People usually stop for pedestrians, but I have seen a d-bag in an Audi swing around the stopped cars and accelerate through the crosswalk nearly killing a disabled woman.
OTOH, I used to commute through an inner city area and it was a constant drivers’ ed film as the residents dragged their kids across the street against the lights with frightening regularity.
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