September 2: Front Street turnaround | Vision Zero’s blind spot | Silverliner V update

Inga Saffron checks in on Front Street’s unlikely turnaround in Fishtown and parts of Kensington, as a street that’s gone from the bleak shadow of the El to one bubbling with new restaurants and businesses.

Artist Sarah McEneaney might be better known in these pages as president of the Callowhill Neighborhood Association and a leader of efforts to recast the Reading Viaduct as the Rail Park. But through her art she’s also created a personal record of Callowhill’s story over the last 35 years. As Samantha Melamed reports, you can see an exhibit of McEneaney’s paintings depicting her life and her neighborhood at Locks Gallery (600 S. Washington Square) through October 9.

CityLab explores Vision Zero’s blind spot: equity. Vision Zero advocates call for stepped-up traffic enforcement even as communities of color suffer from racial profiling and disproportionate risk from encounters with law enforcement. Transportation equity consultant Adonia Lugo asks, “How do we rely on enforcement in a settings where people are pointing out that we don’t actually enforce these laws in an equitable way?” Enforcement isn’t the only mechanism for achieving Vision Zero, but our city should be especially attuned to the impact such policies could have for our communities of color.

In a statement Thursday, OTIS Managing Director Clarena Tolson told PlanPhilly that within the next month the city expects “to announce the appointment of a Director of Complete Streets and an Executive Order to establish a Vision Zero Task Force.” Meanwhile in Philadelphia last night: A four year old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a vehicle in Juniata Park and a 42-year old cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run on Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philly.

SEPTA is rolling the first repaired Silverliner Vs back on the rails. WHYY’s Tom MacDonald has an equalizer beam update and reports that full regional rail service should return in October.

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