The Ben Franklin Parkway is Frustratingly Broken

[@ErdTirdMans]

The funny thing is the reason the Parkway is low to mid traffic is not because there isn't demand for movement along that stretch of the city, it's because - speaking from experience - it's such an awful drive that people go out of their way to avoid it. The Parkway doesn't even work for the cars\drivers it's built for

[@ThisisDevaan]

They could easily expand the bike lanes and sidewalks due to the low amount of traffic per lane

[@SuperRat420]

@@rich453 no

[@__supreme7]

The definition of a stroad

[@SuperRat420]

@@__supreme7 uh, no.

[@__supreme7]

@@SuperRat420 ik its not the full definition but its got the same “bad at everything” issue like a stroad

[@nearby_emu4181]

if they don't stop building wide urban roads... I'm gonna have to get involved.

[@danswain6870]

Do it. We need you!

[@drunknihilism7181]

I've got a hi-vis vest, hard hat, and 20 year old pickup. Perfect for carrying around a jackhammer.

[@batatanna]

The second emu war is coming

[@yvonneplant9434]

Made in America is NOT happening this year.

[@Daniel-hj8el]

Do IT mr President!

[@UbinTimor]

@4:07 "I can feel your TikTok attention span waning!" Me: *Generally disappointed that the history lesson was abruptly cut off because I was into it from the start and wanted to learn more*

[@patchso]

Yeah, Id say most people who watch these vids are into the details. Give me history all day long. Appreciate the sarcasm though :-)

[@alanthefisher]

I'm saving some of the history for another video, mainly because this one was taking too long to come out. There will be a follow up video about transit

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

So those wondering why Alan mentioned Frazier, while Rocky was based on the true story of Chuck Wepner who once fought Ali and lasted until the 15th round, and the fighting style and the name was borrowed from Rocky Marciano, some of Balboa's training was taken from Joe Frazier. Frazier once had a job in a Philly slaughterhouse, and there he would be punching the hanging meat as training, and Frazier also talked about how he used to run up the museum steps! While Chuck Wepner did run up steps as part of his training, it was the 46 steps at the Stephen R. Gregg Park/Bayonne Park in his hometown of Bayonne, NJ! So if you REALLY wanna replicate Chuck Wepner's training (he also trained in the Catskills) and the REAL Rocky steps, go to Bayonne! Bayonne has a statue of Repner, but it's at Collins Park instead of Stephen R. Gregg Park. By the way, Chuck actually sued Stallone in 2003 because he wanted payment for being the inspiration, and they settled in 2006 for an undisclosed amount. Fun fact, Repner originally was into basketball because of his height, but got into boxing during his time in the Marines! Pretty wild fact that at one point in time, Philadelphia City Hall was the world's tallest habitable building when it was completed in 1894! Incredible video, the quality is chef's kiss! I quite love the addition of the different country flags on Ben Franklin Parkway! The flags were first added to the Parkway in 1976 as part of the city's bicentennial celebration, and Philadelphia became the US's first World Heritage City by the international Organization of World Heritage Cities in 2015! As an appreciator of flags, some of my favorite flags include Bhutan (not featured on the parkway), Kiribati (also not featured), Barbados, Brazil, Mexico, Albania, Seychelles (also not featured), Turkmenistan (also not featured), and Kenya! On the Barbados flag, the trident comes from Barbados's colonial coat of arms, and on the flag, it's broken off since it's just the top, meant to represent the breaking of colonial rule in Barbados and independence from the UK! On Mexico's flag, the eagle is eating a snake while perched on a cactus to represent Aztec god Huītzilōpōchtli telling the Mexica to look for a sign, an eagle on a cactus, that would tell them where to settle Tenochtitlan!

[@iluomobravo]

Alan is being a virtue signaling cunt, that’s why

[@patchso]

Good stuff!

[@s.lindland]

car tornado fucking got me

[@patchso]

Accurate! Anyone who’s driven around it still suffers trauma.

[@Mt.Dwezzy]

So when are we getting the acela body pillow? The missus is getting lonely

[@ConvincingPeople]

Philadelphia native here. Thank you for this. The Parkway has some interesting features and ideas going into it but it is so badly designed, especially in terms of foot traffic to and from the museums. Also appreciate the shade being thrown at tourists who only seem to know the Art Museum steps from Rocky and demonstrate little other interest in, y'know, the huge museum they're attached to. I know it's petty, but it bugs me. At least visit the armour room or something.

[@yvonneplant9434]

When it was first built there were very few cars. It should have never had any car traffic.

[@yvonneplant9434]

That's typical and it's their loss. If they don't care about real art( the Rocky statue is a movie prop) so be it.

[@yvonneplant9434]

It bugs me too. Maybe we should tell them that PMA and those steps were designed by a black architect, Julian Abele. 😅 That might get their attention.

[@AmazingJayB51]

@@rich453as black kid in growing up in West Philly in the 70s/80s, I rode my bike all over the city, never once cared about bike lanes. Bikers today are such babies. 👶

[@cdipierro]

@@AmazingJayB51 this is so true. When you know how to do urban biking you don’t worry about those things. You look out for yourself and you make your way around. A bicycle is so powerful to a person in a city.

[@ChrisGnam]

The NJB callout is giving me life. He had some great videos, but the absolute doomerist attitude and rant telling us to just leave our homes has made me completely lose interest. Thank you for actually engaging with providing positive steps that can be taken

[@PaulFisher]

get his ass

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

The Champs-Élysées wasn't meant to be built for parades. It and its gardens were originally laid out in 1667 by André Le Nôtre as an extension of the Tuileries Garden, the gardens of the Tuileries Palace, which had been built in 1564, and which Le Nôtre had rebuilt in his own formal style for Louis XIV in 1664. Le Nôtre planned a wide promenade between the palace and the modern Rond Point, lined with two rows of elm trees on either side, and flowerbeds in the symmetrical style of the French formal garden. The new boulevard was called the "Grand Cours", or "Grand Promenade". It did not take the name of Champs-Élysées until 1709. Until the reign of Louis XIV, the land where the Champs-Élysées runs today was largely occupied by fields and kitchen gardens! In 1846, Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who we know as Napoleon III, lived for a brief period in lodgings just off Lord Street in Southport in the UK's Merseyside. It is claimed the street is the inspiration behind the Champs-Élysées. And it was between 1854 and 1870 that Napoléon III orchestrated the reconstruction of the French capital, with the medieval center demolished and replaced with broad tree-lined boulevards, covered walkways and arcades. This transformation was supposed to facilitate troop movements and stop protests. Haussmann’s city makeover didn’t stop the 1871 Paris Commune, partly because the street-widening plan was yet to be finished. Many roads were still narrow and surfaced with tarred wooden blocks, which the insurrectionists used as weapons, in bonfires, and barricades. The barricade was built with setts, not a stone out of line, so the barricades used in the 1830s/June Rebellion-inspired Les Misérables are historically inaccurate as the actual barricades were made from oblong roadstones

[@WOuter4ZWL]

Good piece of history! And now a days these boulevards are used massively for demonstrations, especially in Paris. So the whole concept to control the crowd somewhat got lost, that’s karma 😂

[@golemofiron7250]

Also why did he pronounce it the Shawns ellazay 😭😭

[@charliejag089]

Alan must have drank a redbull cuz the Editing skills are +11

[@jetsons101]

As a tourist that has been to Philadelphia many times, the best way to visit is to park the car and walk everywhere, just like in Boston. Also, the vast majority of the people in Philly are more than happy to give directions and recommend a good place to eat.

[@nicholasfield6127]

Ope, the NJB call out 😬 lol

[@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub]

Jason - goes full on doomer and leaves Alan on read Alan - "And I took that personally"

[@zuluhyena305]

Haha yeah, it was time NJB got called out. He seems to be stuck in this echo chamber where he gets more and more annoyed about cars exsisting. Like he's still good but he's not encouraging for someone unsure of the movement

[@Br-bs1xe]

This is a perfect Street for Trams!

[@yvonneplant9434]

Ll

[@SuperRat420]

We actually have a pretty good trolley network

[@ianhomerpura8937]

That area once had lots of trolleys, until they were demolished to make way for the Parkway.

[@DKGifford19608]

Phlash shuttle (bus trolley) and buses run on the Parkway. They connect to the pretty great underground, trolley, and regional rail system.

[@johnchambers8528]

You pointed out many of the problems of their Parkway but it is a beautiful grand entrance to center city.i have both driven on it and walked to or from several of the buildings along it. It is a major asset in regards to big events held along it and while it could be better I still like it as it is.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

While the National Mall became what it is because of the 1900s McMillan Plan (and the 1850s Downing Plan), the original concept for a garden-lined grand avenue between the US Capitol and a Washington equestrian statue (now Washington Monument) was proposed by Parisian Pierre Charles L'Enfant! L'Enfant presented a vision featuring grand boulevards and ceremonial spaces reminiscent of Paris. This was much more than the simple federal town Jefferson had in mind. People thought Pierre was crazy, but not Washington! His design was based on European models translated to American ideals. The city was built around the idea that every citizen was equally important! The Mall was designed as open to all comers, which was unheard of in his native France. L'Enfant placed Congress on a high point with a commanding view of the Potomac, instead of reserving the grandest spot for a leader's palace like in Europe. Capitol Hill (once called Jenkins Hill) became the center of the city from which diagonal avenues named after the states radiated, cutting across a grid street system. These boulevards of course allowed for easy transportation across town and offered views of important buildings and common squares from great distances. And with DC Union Station designed by Daniel Burnham later added as well as an incredible, accessible Great Society Metro system by Harry Weese...truly master-planned. The Washington Monument ended up getting built beginning in 1848, dedicated in 1885, and opened in 1888. The construction was suspended from 1854 to 1877 due to funding challenges, a struggle for control over the Washington National Monument Society, and the American Civil War. When construction restarted, they used different marble, and because of this, you can see that the color of the marble at the bottom of Washington Monument is different if you look carefully at 2:59. The two sections closely resembled each other at first, but time, wind, rain, and erosion have caused the marble sections to weather differently. The monument was built with three different kinds of white marble. In the lower third, marble from Baltimore County, MD followed by a narrow zone of marble from the Sheffield in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, and, in the upper part, Cockeysville Marble also from Baltimore County.

[@FGH9G]

Oh come on! I don't have a "TikTok attention span..." I actually liked the history lesson that got abruptly cut off at 4:03 😂😅🥺👉👈

[@cocommander]

The zoom on the opening shot oh my god

[@alfredogarbanzo2276]

mad clean

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Paris's Arc de Triomphe was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 and was inspired by Rome's Arch of Titus. Major sculptors of France are represented in the Arc de Triomphe including Jean-Pierre Cortot, François Rude, Antoine Étex, James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire. Its iconography pits heroic French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major French victories in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. The inside walls of the monument list the names of 660 people, among which are 558 French generals of the First French Empire. Also inscribed are the names of major French victories in the Napoleonic Wars, though the battles that took place between the departure of Napoleon from Elba to his final defeat at Waterloo are not included. The Arc de Triomphe is 50 m tall and it was the tallest triumphal arch until Mexico City's Monumento a la Revolución in 1938, which is 67 m/220 ft high. The Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is slightly taller than the Arc de Triomphe at 60 m. Pyongyang's triumphal arch was built to commemorate the Korean resistance during the Japanese period, and was inaugurated on Kim Il-sung's 70th birthday, each of its 25,500 blocks of finely-dressed granite represents a day of his life up to that point!

[@breaddocs]

Pittsburgh area resident and, yeah, PennDOT pretty much would prefer business as usual on all roads it controls rather than having any changes. Have you ever put out a video about your thoughts on PA’s top-down approach towards road maintenance? To my understanding, it’s very unusual that a state level agency maintains so many roads that might be municipally managed in other states.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

WTYP should make an episode centered mainly about PennDOT

[@breaddocs]

@@ianhomerpura8937 that would be pretty cool

[@mattgisondi4519]

They're terrible at maintaining the status quo even. I've been working for a few years with a municipal Public Works, and boy, do we hate PennDOT lol. We've had so many issues and lack of communication from them. Let alone improving pedestrian and bike infrastructure in our area and being stonewalled by the state

[@paulmentzer7658]

​@@mattgisondi4519In the 1970s, Penndot's failure to maintain its road caused the City of Pittsburgh to put up signs stating "State Maintained Road" for the mayor had enough of people complaining to him about how bad these roads are. One of the problems with Penndot is how many roads they maintain. Several years ago in Cambria County I ran across a dirt road with a sign saying "No winter maintenance". That Dirt road was a Penndot maintained road. It barely had two eight foot lanes (I suspect it was two seven foot lanes, but I did not have a tape measure to measure it). Pennsylvania has a rule, all state maintained roads must have two eight foot lanes UNLESS there is not enough room, then you can have two seven foot lanes. West Liberry Avenue in Pittsburgh has four even foot lanes. Another situation with Penndot, in the days of the Streetcar boom (1980 to about 1920), the old Pennsylvania Highway Department would permit Streetcar companies to build 11 foot Streetcar right of ways between two eight foot lanes for horse drawn wagons (Total 27 feet wide). Starting in the 1920s, many of these highways paved the Streetcar right of way to produce "passing lanes" for automobiles. Most retained the Streetcar tracks till the 1950s but 27 feet wide highway is NOT wide enough for even four seven foot lanes (4x7=28). Given you still had the Streetcar tracks in the middle of the road, you could not install a center turning lane. Thus you ended up with roads that are technically to narrow for four seven foot lanes, so you had the two super wide lanes that people treat as four lane highways, when they are only technically two lane traffic (one lane in each direction). Ardmore Boulevard is an example of this (as is West Liberty Avenue, but for some reason Penndot found a way to claim West Liberty has four seven foot lanes). Modern roads are 12 feet wide for Motor Vehicles can be six feet wide. On a eight foot wide lane, that means only a foot on each side of the Vehicle. With seven foot lanes, that "Safety Margin" is reduced to just six inches on both side of the Vehicle Penndot should fix the above, making all traffic lanes at least eight foot wide, and quit maintaining dirt roads and similar low traffic volume roads. I do not see Penndot doing any of the above, for the state legislators will not permit Penndot to either abandon those non confirming roads, or supply the money to upgrade those nonconforming roads. Sorry about the rant, but the problems with the roads of Pennsylvania have existed for decades and just do not see anyone willing even to address the problems of the roads except when forced to do so by how bad the road had become.

[@scout8145]

@@paulmentzer7658Intentionally narrow roads can be a very helpful tool for getting drivers to slow down. But the chaos of lane widths in and around the Pittsburgh area (and possibly throughout PA) affects driver behavior in erratic ways. The various roads throughout Schenley Park are a great example of this. Some of the roads have no painted median, encouraging drivers to slow down and work together to not crash into each other. But other roads feel like freeways where drivers go as fast as they feel comfortable, which can be 10-20 mph higher than the posted speed limit. And this is a public park, meaning people should feel safe to walk, bike, jog, and play there without feeling like they’re a few feet from high-speed traffic.

[@laiiiix]

i don’t know if anyone will read this but i just wanna say i really appreciate how focused you are on improving philly. I wish there was a content creator like this for my adoptive city of cleveland because the amount of good that this channel does for philly is heartwarming. Love content like this!

[@MLHunt]

I'm a transplant to the area and i have never understood why that street exists in the form it does. So I really appreciate this piece.

[@GLitchesHaxandBadAudio]

Was that a car driving through the pool at 0:29 ? Yikes.

[@leaf821]

green paint

[@Poorgeniu5]

I believe that is a painted parking lot.

[@ProxiProtogen]

Green paint lol

[@literallyanythingelseother]

That roads is crazy wide

[@protowave]

* road

[@darksu6947]

​@@protowaveStroad*

[@hudson5112]

For all of its many transit problems, the views up and down the Parkway between the art museum and City Hall are simply magnificent. Many years ago when I lived in Florida, and considered moving to Philly I distinctly remember visiting Love Park and being awestruck at the vista down the Parkway to the PMA The fountains, the flags, the artwork, the landscaping of the Parkway plus the two monumental civic buildings that terminate the vistas up and down the Parkway still inspire me whenever I visit Love Park or the Rocky steps. And I 've visited both many times since I moved to this great city over twenty years ago.

[@ianwells5414]

Lol @10:15 when I found out I made it into the inquirer for going to a bike lane protest 2 weeks ago. Would like to also add how bad the slip lane is from Elkins oval to 24th street for cars getting onto 676. The bike lane and crosswalks cross it, but it's very rare that anyone driving will ever yield, and the cars that do often get honked at or risk getting rear ended. Also, because of the timing on the lights, there are rarely any gaps in traffic. Really hoping this is addressed in the redesign.

[@karikling6751]

I don't even know if most drivers know what a bike crossing is because so many of them don't yield when there are only bicyclists waiting at the bike crossing but will yield when pedestrians are waiting in the crosswalk by Spring Garden and Eakin's Oval.

[@dwc1964]

IIRC the Champs-Élysées was designed, along with a general redesign of Paris, not just for showy military parades, but for practical military purposes - to give regular army troops and equipment the advantage over barricade skirmishers who made tactical use of the older, narrow streets during the Revolution and subsequent revolutions.

[@dantem4119]

Von Haussmann’s intervention is very interesting to read about.

[@Furitokama]

Avenue des Champs Elysses was designed in the 17th century. It's not an Haussmannian boulevard, it'sd much older. It's also wrong to assume that Haussmann plan was for military purpose. The main reasons was to embelish the city and to have a Paris fitted for the modern industrial time. That's means easing congestions for traffic of people and goods.

[@spicyempanadas2738]

Not super related, but my godfather is a trauma surgeon in Philly and he said that he frequently gets people with injuries sustained trying to run up the steps of the museum.

[@SuperRat420]

I'd trip on those steps stone cold sober, I believe it. They're too small and too deep

[@ianhomerpura8937]

He would have enjoyed seeing people climb up the great stairs in Chongqing lol

[@Pensyfan19]

Incredibly well made video! The editing for features ranging from song choice to writing is a massive improvement when compared to previous videos. Keep up the good work and I hope to see some more rail related videos with this kind of editing in the future.

[@paul1993willy]

Hot take: I’ve never been to Philly, so I never got to experience it by foot by myself, but I believe that the promenade has the potential to be the safest part of that boulevard. With proper traffic calming, the side streets could offer a great environment for active transit and commercial activities. They do need modal filters to discourage through traffic, they need to have at most one trafic lane, curbs cuts, raised pedestrian crossings and other interventions to slow cars down as much as possible and other interventions to make it clear that they should only serve local traffic. Ideally, that’d eliminate that confusion over whether drivers should drive down the center lane or side streets.

[@adithyavraajkumar5923]

As someone who just moved to Philly a year ago and lives off of the Parkway, the short light cycle for pedestrians makes me fly into a blood rage. Every. Single. Time. No wonder so many people jaywalk here.

[@connorparadis4804]

I think we forget that many of these roads were designed for horse carriages and primitive cars that had a top speed of 20mph downhill

[@ccityplanner1217]

The parallel roads should not be light-controlled, they should just be serviceways to access parking, like they are in Paris.

[@williammcgeehan3424]

The Rocky character was based on the boxer known as " The Bayonne Bleeder " Chuck Wepner.

[@GojiMet86]

PennDOT: Look at this wide Boulevard for all these "definitely efficient" cars! Me: Looks like a very ideal place for streetcars and a subway! PennDOT: 😠

[@dj_enby]

We missed you! I'm excited to see more from you no matter the wait or production quality

[@andrewrohe]

Great take on the Parkway, however, I totally disagree with you on making MLK Drive bicycles-only. It’s a critical pressure release route for both I-76 and Kelly Drive when traffic hits a gridlock, especially during rush hour times and major travel holidays like Thanksgiving Eve or Memorial Day weekend.

[@thetrainguy1]

I just wanted to say. I saw you at Newark Airport and I wish I could've told you in person but I love your videos and please keep it up. (I was the locomotive engineer running the train you rode)😅

[@matthewconstantine5015]

Oh, my gosh, yes. I haven't spent a lot of time in Philly (hoping to get there again, soon). But my wife & I walked Parkway last year from our hotel in Center City. It was NOT pleasant. Crossing streets wide, confusing signals, the insanity of the Oval...Yikes. There was a constant stream of people trying to cross there, but everything was set up for cars to speed past. It felt like an intentional middle finger directed at anyone who wasn't in a car. I seem to remember a sidewalk just randomly ending at one point. Considering how many families I saw out and about, including a lot that seemed to be local, it's obvious that what's needed there is a human-focused park/gathering place, either without cars or with cars substantially "tamed."

[@roscalenecrailfanning8847]

Ik this is completely unrelated but I want to say my city is making a bad idea. In Miami, they are marking a brt with seperated roads, custom stations, heck even having rail road crossings so that way the buses can get the right if way. I don’t know why they could just expand the current metro, or just add a light rail. It Is a better solution tbh

[@searchingfortruth619]

No pressure on the video schedule. Most of us prefer higher quality, informative videos.

[@KungFuIsland]

Living in or near Philly for most of my life, the Penn Square death-vortex seem explicitly designed to cause accidents. When I was first learning to drive in my teens, I started thinking something must be wrong with me because surely no sane person would design this. I've had people hit by cars right behind me on those insane crosswalks, and, ironically, have seem ambulances almost clip people while swinging around those curves. It legitimately has no reason to exist, as eliminating it would require people to walk one block extra to access anything in Penn Square. The Parkway should be replaced with more park and possibly a light rail line.

[@UniquelyUnseen]

Waited however many months for more Alan content.. and this is pretty damn good. Great job Alan, I hope life is going well for you :D

[@snekposts]

great video! production values on point my dude

[@Pystro]

What you call "slip lanes" aren't actually functioning as slip lanes. They are in fact access roads, which theoretically is a great thing to have on a boulevard or avenue. The only problem is that Ben Franklin Parkway is a Parkway (in the section where those lanes are present), meaning that there _is noting to access_ next to the road (except for some empty lawn areas and parking spots in case you DO want to access some of the "park" areas in the city that are closest to car traffic). In order to make them function as "slip lanes" (or to make them properly function as turn lanes at all), you'd need to allow drivers to swap between the straight through lanes and those side lanes. The way it is built now makes the central lanes act like a freeway (except without the grade separation) that only takes you between the oval and Logan square. The confusion with drivers is probably because unlike on a freeway where you are clearly told with overhead signs which lanes are for which purpose, the way finding signage when you enter Ben Franklin Parkway is quite bad. On the oval, the outer lane is labeled as "LOCAL" (with asphalt paint, no signs); from the east and south there is a single sign each "INNER DRIVE / OUTER DRIVE"; from Logan square there is a sign telling you to give way when you turn onto the local lanes. They couldn't even make the signs _consistent._ But most importantly, there is _no mention_ of turn restrictions for the inner drive on any of the approaches. Something like "INNER DRIVE. TO LOGAN SQUARE ONLY. / OUTER DRIVE. ALL TURNS." would have been much clearer. Or even just "TO LOGAN SQUARE ONLY. / LOCAL. ALL TURNS.". But even if the signs hypothetically contained that information in a clear and consistent way, the size and positioning of the signs makes overlooking them very easy. All of these are single signs on at least two lane roads. So when you are on the left lane (which you would be when you expect that you can use the center drive), a single truck/SUV/van can block your view of that sign. There's so many benefits from the outer drive lanes to be had: Turning movements separated from the central lanes, so that those can run on a 2-phase traffic light cycle; Stopping cars being separated from fast moving traffic; A safe route for bicycles. The location, length and way finding squanders the first two. And the bicycle safety is only mediocre, because the main danger comes from the junctions at either end of the boulevard.

[@diego001]

Ooh. Nice use of Mozart on the explanation about the origins of European boulevards.

[@danielconrad399]

'Tourists are generally not the smartest.' Good video Alan. I (and at least one other commenter below) do not have a short attention span, please continue with history.

[@laurencefraser]

Indeed. I was enjoying that bit.

[@DKGifford19608]

I used to live a few blocks off the Parkway and I love it. I have so many fond memories of events, biking it, walking visitors, and even sledding on the museum steps. I do agree it need improvement and think everything in the OTIS plan is spot on. Though, the tone of this video is off. The Parkway is a jewel and now that it better connects to the parks and river trails it's fantastic.

[@StillAnotherStudent]

He returned!!

[@MichaelJEngelmann]

As a kid, my dad told me at Love Park it looks like he’s pissing. I’m 24 & it still makes me laugh 😂

[@ccityplanner1217]

The pedestrian experience here would be greatly improved if it was legal in America to cross the road on a red man.

[@andrewmazzarini2742]

The closest street to a Euro-style boulevard up here in Boston is Commonwealth Avenue, which also has slip lanes but, unlike The Franklin Parkway, Comm Ave is not as much of a pain in the ass for non-automotive commuters. It's still not very good but most of that comes down to how horrendously unoptimized the infrastructure on the Green Line B Branch is

[@HigherQualityUploads]

Ben Franklin would be ashamed to be named after such a poorly engineered structure

[@kevineusebio]

walking along this road is insane. there are hardly any cars there, and it's often taken over by loud groups of bikers and/or cars that circle that area like 3x before leaving. it needs to be redesigned and lanes reduced to 4 lanes

[@trainluvr]

The first minute I biked the parkway as a tourist I knew something was greatly amiss. Many things about it are amiss as you so competently point out.

[@Benz2112]

Kudos on all the production upgrades you have made. This video looks fantastic.

[@etbadaboum]

This urbanist turf war is getting ridiculous (edit: thumbnail has been heavily modified)

[@Jacksparrow4986]

It's all friendly puns.

[@etbadaboum]

@@Jacksparrow4986 Make no mistake, there is a real enmity toward Jason from NJB

[@officialgreendalehumanbeing]

yeah, but so is saying that urbanists should just give up on north america and just move somewhere else.

[@dantem4119]

@@etbadaboumtbh, NJB really didn’t do much to endear himself to NA residents by essentially saying just move lol.

[@ishfarahmed3684]

NJB is basically the Drake of the urbanist community. Everyone getting at him for justifiable reasons and they the most popular in their field lol

[@donaldcarletonjr.9047]

So glad you're back, I was beginning to fear this fine channel was defunct!

[@larry4111]

Thank you, Alan. This was fascinating. I lived in Philly for 36 years and spent quite a bit of time on and around the Parkway. I was a DJ at WMMR and we often sponsored events there, like the July 4th concerts at the Art Museum, a defunct (I believe) event called Super Sunday where much of the Parkway above Logan was closed for a street festival, the Thanksgiving Day Parade (which I was in one year) when it went around the Oval, the Cycling Championship which I rode in every year (in a van doing live reports), and many others. That said, I don't remember much having to drive on it - which I guess was a big point of the piece. No matter where you needed to go there was always a better way to get there. It connected nothing to nothing.

[@jonathanstensberg]

You should do a video on how they bulldozed a ton of the old city to make Independence Mall.

[@tdb7992]

I'm sure OBF will have a video entitled "Why Philadelphia is terribly designed" up in no time at all.

[@himbourbanist]

I think the Parkway could be really nice if the central highway part was turned fully into Greenspace. Drivers can use the outer lanes but the natural traffic calming of single lane, narrower streets will make it a lot safer. Then part of the inner lanes can be turned into bike roads and grass and pedestrian space. Maybe even a plaza or two thrown in. Logan Square will need to be fully redesigned to remove as many car lanes as possible without a doubt. Honestly it should be turned back into a square with traffic routed around the Outer Edges

[@MarioFanGamer659]

Agreed, having the pedestrian space on the inside and no roads (not even PT ones) removed, alongside cutting all the diagonal roads would make it feel more like a proper park inside a dual carriageway. Even better would be to remove the roads between the Square and Oval altogether but that's a different project.

[@himbourbanist]

@@MarioFanGamer659 I think getting the oval fully converted to park space would be an immense step forward. And it might be wishful thinking, but using some of the space within the parkway for greenway trolley tracks would make it possibly the best promenade in the country, even if it was a short loop that connected back in to City Hall; it would be so useful for tourists and a great starting segment for a new line. But that would take actual coordination between the city and SEPTA so who knows.

[@MarioFanGamer659]

@@himbourbanist Frankly, I'd put the trolleys besides the cars and not in the middle of the park (remember, "not even PT ones" extend to trolley lines), though it does make sense sense to keep parts of the oval (the flat side) open for them and busses.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Please consider making a video explaining the “city beautiful movement” it sounds like you have some strong opinions on it😅

[@Azeria]

seems like a perfect candidate for pedestrianisation

[@ccityplanner1217]

I can't help but think America would flow much better if American drivers had the discipline of those from London. I recently cycled in Liverpool & it was a scary experience because drivers there are so much less disciplined, but for the most part, English drivers still remember to look out for pedestrians & cyclists when using a slip lane.

[@a62dave]

I once had a 4-hour layover at 30th Street Station and decided to walk to the Rocky Steps, er, Museum. When I got to the Oval, I gazed across the great expanse and muttered, “WTF is this? Can I not walk to it?” Eventually, I found the shortest crosswalk and enjoyed dodging the cars who chose to ignore my “Walk” sign.

[@Swordfish_]

Im glad you called out KoP

[@mattwalker5252]

I live a few blocks from the start of the BF Parkway. I think what makes the most sense is to have two trolley lines on the right (North) side and a protect bike path with bollards that disconnect/protect it from the road. The trolley could also go up 23rd to go under the art museum through an already built transit tunnel. As far as the bike path and road goes the bollards could be removed to make one solid asphalt surface for special events, like the NFL draft, etc. there are way to many road lanes as it currently stands.

[@dcampbelldcampbell8000]

The BF Parkway is a grand, inspiring entryway to Center City Philly. It's great the way it is. Even Logan Circle isn't as scary for peds as it looks from the air; it has traffic signals with clearly-painted crosswalks around it, and the traffic is one-way. Fisher doesn't mention that the outer section of the Parkway (what he calls the "slip lane") has already been reduced. You can never eliminate the conflict between turning traffic and bicycles. As for being low-traffic, he means it's not as congested as most city streets--a good thing. Only someone who's part of the anti-car movement could deem the Parkway "garbage".

[@gabedellafave4655]

Ever hear of Ocean, Eastern, Pelham, and Mosholu Park-Ways in NYC? Not to mention the Grand Boulevard and Concourse in the Bronx. I might also mention Park Avenue. These boulevards and Ben Franklin Parkway were not built for automobiles. People need to get out of their beloved cars and start riding buses or (heaven forbid) walking.

[@BenriBea]

Are there any state DOTs that DON'T need bullying?

[@matthewmoskovitz7573]

I live in Mantua on the other side of the Schuylkill and there is ONE instance of traffic on the parkway I encounter regularly. The route 38 and 43 both cross the Spring Garden Bridge and navigate the parkway, and during rush hours it’s a miserable experience. The route 38 into Center City goes around the backside of the Art Museum and then around the front and down the parkway. This wastes about 2-3 minutes without traffic and even more with, while never really picking up a lot of people outside of weekend tourists. The deviation takes even longer during rush hour traffic, easily adding 10 minutes to the trip. The route 43 mainly goes up and down Spring Garden and way back in the day when it was still a trolley it ran down the median of Spring Garden and went under the Art Museum through a specific tunnel to avoid the parkway entirely. Now that the 43 is a bus that tunnel is open to all car traffic, but I guess the buses can’t fit in there any more because the 43 doesn’t use it. It goes down around Eakins Oval eastbound and around the front of the Art Museum westbound. I’ve gotten stuck in traffic plenty of times going westbound because of the mess around the front of the Art Museum and I always see the tunnel and wonder why we can’t use that for it’s intended purpose again. I don’t own a car but driving on the parkway is still a mess regardless. Whenever I get a ride from my sister I always have to explain to her how to navigate it and my parents still get tripped up trying to merge across two lanes of traffic in front of the Art Museum to get to the Spring Garden Bridge

[@laurencefraser]

Traffic circles are just inherently awful in and of themselves, quite aside from any other problem. There is no situation where a roundabout isn't better... not that a roundabout is always actually suitable Either, but at minimum it massively cuts down on the number of ways the whole thing can go wrong. (mind you, roundabouts aren't great for pedestrians, especialy if they're supposed to be able to get into the middle of it).

[@RailBuffRob]

It really bugs me that therre's a 2 lane car tunnel (originally for trolleys) going under the front of the art museum, only one lane is used and the other side which really should be a 2 way bike lane is instead blocked off with concrete barriers.

[@paulmentzer7658]

Most right of ways for Streetcars were only 11 feet wide. Since Streetcars run on rails, you can design the tracks so the Streetcars could be within an inch of each other of straight right of ways (at turns greater distance was required OR the turns, even if two sets of tracks, was one Streetcar only at a time through the turn). Given Streetcars could get away with 11 foot right of ways instead of the 14 or 16 foot right of way of a traffic lane prior to the 1920s, most Streetcar Right of ways are just to narrow for two way automotive traffic. Thus you see such converted Streetcar Right Of Way converted from two way Streetcar traffic to one lane Automotive traffic, a good example of this is the present day North bound (into downtown Pittsburgh) lanes of the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. The old Streetcar exclusive right of way was converted to one lane of traffic in the 1980s. Even today if you look at the Smithfield street Bridge, the inbound section of the bridge (the old Streetcar Right of way) is visibly narrower then the outbound lanes (the orginal lanes for horse drawn and later Automotive traffic).

[@RailBuffRob]

@@paulmentzer7658 this tunnel has columns down the middle of it, it has two entirely separated passages but one is not used for anything despite going underneath one of the most dangerous intersections in the city for bikes.

[@dcampbelldcampbell8000]

@@paulmentzer7658 But Railbuffrob didn't say 2-way car traffic, he said make the other lane for bikes.

[@kmhanley2]

Always appreciate your insight Alan - your content is always on point and glad to see what you're working on.

[@filanfyretracker]

I cannot help but notice in one shot of the art museum stairs from the grass of the oval across the road from them was the "do not cross sign", you would think directly across from one of the city's biggest landmarks there would be provisions for pedestrian crossing. Also crazy that its a state road when it does not go anywhere, you would think PennDOT would be more than happy to surrender it to Philadelphia just so they do not have to deal with it and its problems.

[@dcampbelldcampbell8000]

Actually, in addition to the Art Museum, it "goes" from both of the heavily-traveled river drives that parallel I-76 to almost City Hall and is just a block off I-676 (which connects I-76 to I-95), providing an escape route from chronically backed up I-676 and I-76. As for "Do Not Cross", pedestrians are encouraged to cross at the nearby signal.

[@davidn2612]

Incredibly well made video!!!!! Beautiful work

[@SeanHemenway]

The quality was amazing, I personally prefer your longer form videos! That may not be the consensus among everyone, but I thought your comment about peoples attention spans was funny. Maybe the video today was such a high quality left me feeling like I wanted to sit and watch another 5-10 minutes of it!

[@davidkriz4235]

I think that the parkway itself is pretty beautiful aesthetically. But it's definitely worth improving from a safety and usability standpoint.

[@ginj4ninj4180]

Really great video! The quality was definitely noticeable and i enjoyed it, but agree getting more videos out is better than no videos for a while. Hopefully ypu can figure out how to slowly transition to a happy medium with the videos. Im mostly here to understand your opinion though, so don't always sweat perfection

[@eugeneking1462]

Great video! Chicago's Logan Square is likely named after the one in Philadelphia. Keep those videos coming!

[@Myron90]

I drove Uber in Philadelphia and loved it. The parkway was an absolute nightmare for me in the beginning. I grew to be very proud of my ability to navigate. It's an interesting area and I love my hometown.

[@NewbHunter7235]

You should come visit Pittsburgh. I'll show you some really fucked infrastructure. And I'm not talking about the collapsing bridges.

[@njtrainsandairplanes5355]

Great video! And yeah that was a long break. The last video was uploaded before my Spring semester started, and now I only have two weeks left

[@hekkensnatser]

The slip lanes definitely feel like they wanted access roads and entirely misunderstood what they are for

[@madmanmortonyt4890]

God, I remember being driven through the parkway during a family visit. As a tourist, I was unable to follow where we were going the whole time (probably also didn't help that we went there during a huge protest).

[@douglasrandall6737]

We have had lousy, corrupt, ignorant city government for years, as long as that continues, nothing will change.

[@biscuit715]

Production quality just keeps going up and up!

[@srhorwitznj2]

Excellent video. I live on the Parkway. I am also a very frequent bike rider. Trust me when I say that the Parkway is downright hostile to pedestrians, especially at Eakins Oval.

[@eepynicky]

i love how NJ transit has a pride flag. living among an oppressively car brained nation its important to be proud of your love for public transit.

[@Ih8kone]

Here's another solution that Philadelphia could implement. They could build a subway line underneath the parkway. That would drastically reduce traffic along the parkway, reduce accidents, and teach Americans a valuable lesson about public transportation which the APTA has been trying to do for OVER A CENTURY!!!

[@dcampbelldcampbell8000]

And after that enormous cost and disruption, where would the subway end? At the Art Museum? Most Parkway traffic isn't destined for the museum, so it wouldn't "drastically reduce traffic".

[@Ih8kone]

@@dcampbelldcampbell8000 Yes, it would end at the Oval.

[@weirdfish1216]

insane step up in the production quality of your videos. hope this can sustained 😳

[@malakibaskerville2190]

Nice video man. The biggest reason I stay subbed to channels like yours and RM Transit is because you guys call out the biggest flaws in North America while still believing these can be overcome with time. Unlike NJB who has a more doomerist (and lowkey snobby) approach when bringing up urbanism in North America, you guys encourage people to stay optimistic and fight for the cities and towns that they love. Keep up the great work, Alan!

[@illiiilli24601]

On the topic of positive NA channels, Oh The Urbanity is great

[@jayDB5]

@@illiiilli24601 100% !!!!!

[@ocsrc]

I remember when Philly had no skyscrapers, and when you could walk around the downtown landmarks and it was wide open space. Now it looks like NYC with skyscrapers on both sides Very depressing 😢😢😢😢

[@Bdsteck]

I remember a couple months ago I filled out a survey about proposed redesigns of the road, I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember I suggested maybe a center running median/curb separated bus way, and more green space compared to what they were showing. I don’t know if there’s enough bus traffic there for a center running bus way to really make sense but I was kind of thinking more buses/pedestrians combined like the pedestrian mall or whatever they call it in Denver. I doubt they’re gonna take the suggestions of some random guy anyway though.

[@AB-wf8ek]

Would love to get your take on the plans to build a new stadium in Center City. Developers are progressing quickly to greenlight the project, and I haven't seen a lot of awareness or discussion on the topic. Aaron Moselle had been writing articles on WHYY's website, but the project has huge implications for traffic and local businesses that will effect the city for many decades and needs a lot more attention.

[@BalooUriza]

I was in Philly for the noreasters during the Sochi Olympics. I gave up trying to figure out how the fuck to cross anything legally or correctly after I tried to walk from my hotel in Valley Forge to a liquor store on the other side of King of Prussia, and hit an intersection with no bridges and no crosswalks, only four "CROSSWALK CLOSED" signs and obvious tracks through the snow stomped down so tight someone might have shoveled it, and obviously well traveled by pedestrians. Then I got to Ben Franklin Parkway and I was like, "OK, y'all are fucking insane, I can do blizzard tourism or I can do traffic dodgeball but I'm not doing both at the same time"

[@b0tanicus]

Cincinnati’s Central Parkway is super bad as well. Hopping the proposals to fix it go through sooner rather than later. They have less of an excuse now that they sold that rail line .

[@nomadsgalaxy]

The quality of this vid was amazing. Keep it up!

[@mcbiscuits8015]

I love walking along the schuylkill river park, but my return trip is always along the parkway. it's pretty much a deathtrap for me, especially when it gets busy

[@davidburns8113]

Well... I'm glad you said it! This is one of the prettiest sections of the city, especially from an aerial perspective and I almost never hang out there because walking around is a total nightmare. Shame that Victory has their brewery over there too because it's basically insufferably loud during rush hour. Thankfully center city is so gorgeous this time of year I just hang out at the other parks or at my favorite cafe.

[@timwalks]

Lol'd at "Car Tornado"