Lanes eliminated on JFK, Market Streets as city plans new uses

Drivers on Market Street and JFK Boulevard will notice orange cones and barrels closing off one travel lane for the next two weeks.  The city is experimenting by blocking a travel lane between 15th and 20th Streets.

The Streets Department’s Steve Buckley said the city has a vision for JFK Boulevard and Market Street that represents a truly complete thoroughfare, accomodating every kind of travel. Changes could include a bike lane, new landscaping, and improved pedestrian crossings if traffic moves well enough with one fewer lane,”We actually feel that under current volumes JFK probably really only needs two lanes but we’re going to look it up with three and Market looks like it can still function with three lanes,” Buckley said. “But before we went and invested in a large capital project of any sort we were curious as to how it would perform.  We’re not expecting any real changes in speed.”  Buckley said on-street parking regulations will remain in effect and no parking spaces will be impacted.   During the two-week test Streets Department traffic engineers and Center City District personnel will check out the capacity and overall environment of the streets.