State Street in Harrisburg
Back in 2018, State Street in Harrisburg was deemed one of the most dangerous roads in the country. Over 17 months, five pedestrians and bicyclists perished on this stretch of state-owned road.
To their credit, city officials moved quickly, creating a blueprint to re-engineer the road, calling it their “rapid response plan.”
In the end, there was nothing rapid about it. Unfortunately, the foot-dragging PA Department of Transportation needed to sign off on the proposal, a painstaking process that involved several re-drafts and more years of waiting.
But this spring, all that effort looked like it had finally paid off. Construction commenced to narrow the road, eliminate a lane, install bike lanes and make other much-needed safety improvements. What possibly could go wrong at this point?
Plenty, as it turned out.
The city, helmed by a new mayor, halted the project midstream after several State Street residents complained that the redesigned road would force them to move their parked cars twice a day. City officials issued a stop-work order and now say they’ll come up with yet another plan.
I have sympathy for residents who would need to move their vehicles. I wouldn’t want to have to do that. However, a greater issue is at stake—the safety of the people trying to cross the road and the bicyclists navigating it.
I am eager to see what the city comes up with now. How will it retain all the current parking yet make State Street a much safer road? After all, there is only so much paved geography to work with.
It will be a tough task to make everyone happy: the motorists, the walkers, the parkers and the bikers. I wish the city well in this heavy lift, with the belief that, in the end, someone is likely to walk (or drive or bike) away unhappy.
The city has promised to move swiftly towards a resolution. Indeed, time is of the essence. Soon, state workers will begin to return to their offices, post-pandemic. Inevitably, traffic will build on State Street once again, as will all the safety problems that have been idling over the past few years.
Lawrance Binda is co-publisher/editor-in-chief of TheBurg.
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