Casey advocated for grant to make safety improvements along major urban artery through North Philadelphia
Over the last six years, 12 percent of all fatal crashes in Philadelphia have happened on Roosevelt Boulevard
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that the City of Philadelphia will receive $78,000,000 in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) funding to make major safety improvements along Roosevelt Boulevard, one of the most dangerous roadways in the city and in the Nation. Senator Casey advocated for Philadelphia to receive this funding, which will allow the City to install new median barriers, realigned crosswalks, traffic signal upgrades, and new Business Access and Transit lanes to make it easier for buses to travel and reduce accidents.
“This huge investment will make Roosevelt Boulevard safer for drivers and pedestrians alike, protecting the many Philadelphians who live nearby and use this major artery to get to work and school,” said Senator Casey. “This funding will invest in the transportation backbone of the corridor, better connecting marginalized communities and improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians. I was proud to advocate for this investment in one of Philadelphia’s busiest and most important corridors—it’s a game changer for Philadelphia drivers and pedestrians alike.”
“We thank the Biden-Harris administration, Secretary Buttigieg, Senator Casey, and other Federal, State, and local elected officials in bringing this once-in-a generation investment to the Route for Change Implementation Project, a transformational traffic safety plan on Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “The Route for Change program has always been about more than a plan. It is a roadmap for action that started when my administration took office and will continue until the long-term vision becomes a reality thanks to the Mega Grant Program. This grant will fund traffic safety countermeasures in over 45 locations along the Boulevard which include: traffic signal upgrades and modernization, intersection reconfigurations, new median barriers and pedestrian refuge islands, accessibility improvements, and other pedestrian enhancements.”
This funding will help Philadelphia make improvements along approximately 12.3 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard, from North Broad Street to the Bucks County line. The project will include constructing intersection and roadway reconfigurations, constructing median barriers and pedestrian refuge islands, making traffic signal upgrades, making corridor access management improvements, constructing complete streets improvements for accessibility, pedestrian, and bicycle improvements, as well as installing new business access and transit lanes.
Since 2016, according to the City of Philadelphia’s data, crashes along Roosevelt Boulevard have killed at least 75 people and seriously injured 119 others. Forty-one percent of those killed were pedestrians trying to cross Roosevelt Boulevard’s twelve lanes.
