City Hall bike‑lane bill held; advocates urge prompt reintroduction as PennDOT works on pilot markings

The Streets and Services Committee did not advance bill 250649, a proposal to authorize a permanent protected bike lane around City Hall (Penn Square). Multiple advocates urged the committee to reintroduce the measure quickly because PennDOT is performing milling and marking work that proponents said should be preserved.

Chris Gale, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition, told the committee he relies on the lane daily and called the bill’s delay “disappointing.” He said PennDOT was proceeding with markings at no cost to the city and that if the council does not act the opportunity could be lost. “It is one of the rare occasions that PennDOT, streets, highways, Otis, everybody is in support of this, and it’s a free bike lane,” Gale said.

Speakers including Lou Huang, who said he bikes past Dilworth Plaza regularly, and Robert Brown, a bike‑share user who described encountering cars blocking the proposed route, urged the committee to report the bill so the treatment is not removed after PennDOT completes its work. Several other witnesses echoed that concern and recounted near misses and cars parked in bike lanes around City Hall.

Some witnesses who supported the City Hall bike lane also testified in favor of other loading‑zone and bike‑lane bills being considered that day. Committee members said they would revisit the measure; the bill did not appear among the measures read into the record for first reading that the committee later voted to report to full council.

Why it matters: proponents say a protected City Hall loop would close a key gap in the Center City bike network and reduce conflicts around a high‑traffic civic center; opponents did not provide organized opposition during the hearing but several speakers asked that the committee reintroduce and act on the measure before PennDOT finishes work.