If you could report back to the Chair. The other is, 90 days for a sidewalk closure and your permit expires. That addresses the neighborhood situations that Councilman Kenney and Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller were 119 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 discussing and Councilman DiCicco. Every 90 days you have to reapply and justify the further existence of that permit. If you haven't been doing anything at the site, you're not going to get it extended and then you're going to have to reapply when you actually get active again. There are lots of stopped construction projects with fences around them in the City of Philadelphia, Northern Liberties, other places. It sounds like a few in Councilman DiCicco's district. Let's pull those permits and have them reapply once they're ready to start work again so that people have access to their public sidewalks.
And, once again, can you limit it to 90 days or do you need us to take action? Or maybe we should take action so that becomes the rule. Those are the questions. Thank you very much. 120 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Councilman Kenney.
Mr. Chairman, if you would be so kind, I'd like to make a formal request that instead of providing this information to the Chair, that at the conclusion of this hearing, we recess to the call of the Chair so that we can have another hearing. I think we need another hearing on this, because what happens is, then when information is provided to the Chair through a budget hearing request or this kind of request, we don't always know where it goes. I'd really like to have this. And what Mr. Perri offered to do, to come back and kind of talk about what improvements or changes can be made, I'd rather have a dialogue on this than just paperwork. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Absolutely. So noted.
Thank you. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Any other 121 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 questions for these witnesses? (No response.) COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Thank you all. Frank Baxter, Director of Public Safety for L.F. Driscoll, and Mr. Sklaroff. Is there anyone else after these two gentlemen who would like to testify? Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. Mr. Sklaroff, Mr. Baxter, just hold it. I forgot we jumped ahead again. I apologize. I got to go back to the third panel. I apologize. (Witnesses approached witness table.) COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Please begin by stating your name for the record and presenting your testimony.
My name is Kyle Gradinger. I'm an urban planner and transportation planner for Wallace, Roberts and Todd. I specialize in public 122 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 transportation and non-motorized modes of transportation, biking, walking essentially. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on the topic of sidewalk obstructions in Philadelphia. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to take a moment just to reemphasize the role that sidewalks play in our overall transportation network. I would like to begin by quoting Vukan Vuchic, a noted transportation expert and Penn engineering professor. He wrote once that, "The character of cities depends to a great extent on the treatment of pedestrians. " Philadelphia, with its quaint streets, compact land use and human scale architecture, is the most walkable city 123 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 in North America. Sure, Cambridge can say that, but the evidence supports this boast. Philadelphians are nearly three times more likely than the average American to walk to work, and in Center City alone, 37 percent of residents walk to work, more than in any other large American downtown. In fact, pedestrian traffic can easily outnumber vehicle traffic on many Center City streets during commute times. But sidewalks are much more than transportation corridors. Sidewalks and public squares are the great democratic spaces of cities where people of all backgrounds can meet, mingle and share opinions. Philadelphia's lively sidewalks offer our city a competitive advantage over other cities, which are attempting to emulate the activity and authenticity found every day on the streets of Philadelphia. Today, I will focus on the critical role that Philadelphia sidewalks 124 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 play in terms of transportation, public safety and economic development. Transportation is about two things essentially, mobility and access. Without mobility, people and goods cannot move from place to place. Without access, land has little value. In terms of mobility, Philadelphia's sidewalks play a very important role in getting people and goods to their final destinations. Traffic engineers often measure the flow of vehicular traffic using a term called "level of service," or LOS. LOS ranks a street from A, free flowing traffic, to F, major delays. Streets that are ranked D, E and F quickly work their way to the top of regional transportation funding priority lists. In the 1980s, transportation planners in New York City took the LOS ranking for cars and adapted it for pedestrians in order to create sidewalk design guidelines. I've been informed that the 125 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 City of Philadelphia did study using LOS for pedestrians in the 1980s, but is not a common practice today. Imagine for a moment that the City of Philadelphia did use LOS. Picture 15th Street north of Locust on a weekday morning after a PATCO train arrives at the 15th and 16th Street Station and discharges hundreds of passengers into Center City. Those PATCO passengers become Philadelphia pedestrians as soon as they leave the train and begin the final leg of their journey to work. Akin to a school of fish, the platoon -- yes, that's an actual traffic planning word -- works its way north on the 12- to 15-foot-wide sidewalks, flowing around news racks, food carts, street furniture and cars waiting to get into parking garages. Eventually the sidewalk cannot contain all of the pedestrians and they begin to spill out into the street against oncoming traffic. 126 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 Traffic engineers ranked this sidewalk as level of service C or D. It usually flows well, but there are problems. Now think about the pedestrian heading south against these people, headlong into the platoon of PATCO passengers. The sidewalk for this unfortunate individual has temporarily reached level of service F, total breakdown.
The individual has no mobility on the sidewalk and is forced to choose another route or even walk in the street. If traffic engineers did in fact measure pedestrian level of service the way that they measure vehicular level of service, this poor-performing sidewalk would find itself on top of the regional transportation funding priority list. In the cards would be sidewalk widening and a signal timing program to ensure that the pedestrians leaving the PATCO train would hit all the green lights on their way to work. To highlight the importance of 127 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 access, I turn again to the corner of 15th and Locust to provide a telling example of how a sidewalk obstruction exacerbates the impedence of pedestrian mobility and threatens personal safety. On the northeast corner of 15th and Locust sits the Aria, a former office building that was recently converted to condominiums after a lengthy construction period. A construction fence blocking both 15th Street and Locust Street was erected soon after renovation began in 2005. No accommodation was made for pedestrians, so they were forced to cross to the west side of 15th and the side south of Locust Street to continue on their journeys. The construction fence remained in place for two and one-half years, entirely blocking one corner of the intersection of 15th and Locust. People in wheelchairs or pushing strollers who weren't aware of the sidewalk closure -- and as we now know, blind people as well 128 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 were not aware of the sidewalk closure -- were forced to backtrack an entire block to find an ADA-compliant curb cut. Pedestrians who didn't need a curb cut would often walk brazenly into traffic, squeezing themselves between a jersey barrier and moving cars. Those who were unwilling to backtrack or unable to cross without a curb cut were effectively denied access to the public sidewalks at 15th Street and Locust Street for years. Just north of the Aria on 15th Street, halfway between the crosswalks at Locust and Walnut Streets, is Hausbrandt Cafe. Hausbrandt Cafe is a popular neighborhood destination with a cozy atmosphere and a loyal customer base. During the renovation of the Aria, these loyal customers would cut across traffic on 15th Street, making a de facto crosswalk mid block through traffic. Hausbrandt Cafe weathered the storm of Aria construction because its dedicated 129 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 customers were willing to take risks to get there. On the other hand, lengthy sidewalk closures can be detrimental to some businesses. On this point, I offer a personal anecdote. I walk past Sue's Produce Market on the west side of 18th Street between Walnut and Chestnut every day. I used to stop at Sue's on a regular basis -- or a whim, actually, just to pick up a piece of fruit in the morning or to get a snack on the way back from lunch. Located on one of the busiest sidewalks in Center City, Sue's probably relies on a lot of customers like me, the kind who buy fruit when the opportunity arises, not because it's on the grocery list. However, I haven't been to Sue's in over a year. There's nothing wrong with the produce at Sue's. It's great. But the problem is that the western sidewalk on 18th Street has been blocked for over a year because of the 10 130 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 Rittenhouse construction project. I am a reasonably fit adult who could handle walking back and forth across 18th Street, but I have no need to because produce is an undifferentiated commodity that I get all over the City. Ever since the Rittenhouse construction project 9 redirected my commute to the opposite 10 sidewalk, Sue's has fallen off of my mental map. If a reasonably fit adult is not willing to go out of his way to get an apple, imagine how unlikely it is that someone using a wheelchair or pushing a baby stroller will negotiate a sidewalk closure.
In this case, the sidewalk closure on 18th Street has not only limited the mobility of pedestrians on the sidewalk, it has created access problems for a small business that relies on foot traffic. This argues for reconsidering how the City of Philadelphia mitigates the numerous impacts that construction sites can have 131 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 on Philadelphia's pedestrian realm. In closing, I would like to reiterate that we are all pedestrians. Whether we arrive in Center City by walking, taking SEPTA or driving a car, we all finish our journeys on foot. The last leg of any trip is a critical part of our transportation infrastructure and we must ensure that it functions as well as any road or transit systems. In order to encourage the continued improvement of the quality of life in Philadelphia, we must consider the needs of pedestrians in all of our actions. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Good afternoon, ma'am. Please proceed with your testimony.
Hello. My name is Sara Clark-Stewart and I work for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. I just want to make a brief statement. 132 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 The Bicycle Coalition is a private non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting bicycling as an environmentally friendly, healthy and economical form of transportation and recreation through advocacy and education. We are working with the Planning Commission on the City's forthcoming Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan, and in our view, the bills being discussed today will enhance the City's ability to make its streets more safe for pedestrians and ultimately for bicyclists as well. We applaud the introduction of these bills and we urge City Council to support them. Temporary street and sidewalk closures are important for public safety during construction projects, but they also wreak havoc on pedestrians and bicyclists who need to bypass these sites, in addition to causing severe economic hardship for adjacent businesses. These points have been made 133 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 today, so I will not belabor them. But all too frequently they occur for many, many months, with little accountability. They force pedestrians into the streets, cyclists out of bike lanes and cause pedestrian, cyclists and vehicles to all share the same travel lane, creating very unsafe situations. The more the City can do to control street and sidewalk closures and ensure that they're made safe as possible for pedestrians and bicyclists, to minimize them as much as possible, the better. We expect that permitting these closures with fees as proposed by these bills will increase the likelihood that closures are made safe and do not exist for excessive periods of time. We encourage Council to increase the City's control over construction sites so that they don't prevent the City from being a livable and walkable city. And we concur that enforcement is extremely important and 134 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 must go hand in hand with these bills. So we thank you, and we'll answer any questions. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Any questions? (No response.) COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Thank you both and thank you for waiting. I appreciate your time. Mr. Baxter and Mr. Sklaroff. Is there anyone else besides these two gentlemen who would like to testify on this resolution? (No response.) (Witnesses approached witness table.) COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Gentlemen, decide who is going first. Mr. Sklaroff?
I think the honor is mine. Good afternoon, members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity of addressing you on this subject. My 135 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 name is Neil Sklaroff. I'm an attorney and I represent Rittenhouse Square. 4 10 Rittenhouse Square has been the object 5 of some of the testimony and certainly 6 the object of some of the photographs 7 that you've seen up to now. 8 I have provided you with a very 9 short statement that I'm going to make, 10 as well as photographs of the site. Those photographs are somewhat random, in that they were not taken for the purpose of this hearing, but do illustrate, importantly we think, what the purpose of using sidewalks and travel lanes or parking lanes in streets is for. It is not merely for the convenience of the developer, but is a product of necessity in Philadelphia. I'm sure, as you have heard the testimony today, you have seen the great boulevards they have in New York and some very wide sidewalks, and that's wonderful, and when we have that in Philadelphia, perhaps we can mirror 136 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 what's done there, but most of Philadelphia was laid out long ago and we have narrow streets and narrow sidewalks. As you know or as you may know, the Rittenhouse Square project is 7 located on Sansom Street, 18th Street and 8 Walnut Street and it sits directly across 9 from Rittenhouse Square. It is currently 10 under construction, and construction has required the extended closing of one sidewalk and one lane of both 18th Street and Sansom Street in areas immediately adjacent to the construction site. The use of the closed areas does not allow for pedestrian access. Sidewalks across from 18th Street and Sansom Street are open and generally unaffected by the construction. The preservation of the facade of the Rittenhouse Club on Walnut Street, in addition, has required the partial closing of a portion of the sidewalk on Walnut Street. While we would have hoped that 137 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 our efforts in arriving at the current site configuration would actually serve as a process model for development along Philadelphia's tight street system, we are surprised to learn that our project might have been the target of some critics. I think any developer who would have been here today would have said, But my site is different and my project is different. Like all properties, 10 Rittenhouse Square site is unique and has its own particular challenges. For instance, the property is in the Rittenhouse-Fitler Historic District with buildings individually designated on Philadelphia's Register of Historic Buildings and subject to the Historic Preservation ordinance. The former Rittenhouse Club was in such disrepair that only its facade could be saved, and that task requires that superstructure and that fence that you've seen on Walnut Street. Due to the preservation of the 138 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 facade of the Rittenhouse Club, there is no access available from the Walnut side of the project. The project is only accessible for construction from Sansom Street and 18th Street. Because the project has underground parking, extensive sheeting and shoring was necessary under the adjacent sidewalks. The hole was more than 30 feet in depth. The project's new building covers 100 percent of the property and has no setbacks, a condition that was favored not only by the consulting and approving agencies but most of the groups with whom we spoke. That is, in Philadelphia, we build to the property line, up to the sidewalk, and, therefore, in this site, as many others, there is no 21 other area on the site to place construction materials or to have machinery that is necessary for construction. In our case, Sansom Street is 139 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 only feet wide and has sidewalks that are only 10 feet wide. 18th Street is 26 feet wide with sidewalks which are 12 5 feet wide.
6 The sidewalk and street lanes 7 allowed by permit to be fenced are 8 strictly used for material delivery, 9 storage of materials and use of 10 construction machinery, such as cranes 11 and elevators and concrete pumps. 12 Vehicles that come in are loaded with 13 materials or concrete trucks, and they 14 move in and out, as you'll see from the 15 photographs that you have. We have a 16 large sliding fence on Sansom Street and 17 vehicles are maneuvered in and out for 18 delivery of materials on a constant 19 basis. 20 The project required and received the approval of the Historical Commission, the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Throughout the design and approval process, ARCWheeler enjoyed the support of the Center City Residents 140 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 Association, the Preservation Alliance and many Walnut Street merchants. The Streets Department issued permits approving the sidewalk and street closures. Enclosed with the testimony, as I've said, are photographs of our site. We hope that you will agree that using the sidewalks and some lanes is necessary in order to construct this project at all. It is not possible to provide a pedestrian access without closing another lane of 18th Street and entirely closing Sansom Street. We didn't get to this street and sidewalk configuration without some public discussion. When the well-respected Turner Construction approached our client with the idea to close a portion of 18th Street and all of Sansom Street for a couple of years, we questioned the general contractor and then immediately reached out to the community, the neighbors and the business 141 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 persons along Sansom Street, as well as Councilman Clarke. There were many, many meetings, and construction was delayed through this process for many months. Eventually we came to an understanding that added a very significant expense to our client's costs to developing this project. In the end, I guess nobody was completely satisfied with the compromises made here. The developer had significantly more costs. The contractor had much less room in which to -- much less room than it would have liked in order to maneuver, and the neighbors have one less lane and only one sidewalk on each street in which to travel. We continue our dialogue, however, with the community. Each month we notify the neighboring land owners, CCRA and Councilman Clarke's office of the site logistics and every relevant permit with regard to closing the streets and the sidewalks. We provide monthly updates of our construction progress, the 142 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 project layouts and schedules of major construction activities, including temporary lane closures that will have to occur due to construction. I think my point is that in this particular situation -- and I'm sure there are others -- the ability to build the project as permitted, as desired in Pennsylvania, with no setbacks, with narrow sidewalks and narrow streets, compelled us to be able to close a sidewalk and a lane. To have put a covered sidewalk here would not have been practical. One other comment about covered sidewalks where you have a sidewalk that is close by across the street. This project will have almost 1,100 panels that will have to be craned from trucks and applied to the side of the buildings. I hope you would agree that it is wiser to do that where it won't fall on anything, where there's nothing below where it will be craned than if we had to 143 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 put a structured sidewalk below. I don't have the answer to many of the questions and criticisms that were raised today, but I wanted to show you this example of what we think was a concerted effort to come up to the best way to be able to construct the building and protect the safety of our neighbors and residents. Thank you, and I'd be pleased to answer any questions. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you, Mr.
Sklaroff, and I will be one to agree with your assessment, understanding the size and shape and the limitations that we have in our City compared to some of the other cities, because most of our streets are much more narrow. I'm not speaking for the author of this resolution, but I think we're all reasonable people and we understand that, but there are -- I think what we're looking to do is where there are or there is the potential or the ability to 144 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 provide a public walkway, secure public walkway, in those instances I think that we all agree that we should do that. But I'm familiar with this project, and there are some other projects that probably fit into the same category where it's virtually impossible to try to do all the things we'd like to do. And I think that that may be part of the public process or the permitting process, if you will, and the discussions with the local community and elected officials on a project-by-project basis. But I think you heard me earlier, when we have a form that is required before a permit is issued -- and I would suggest that in many cases -- and I don't have a number, but there are a number of cases out there where a pedestrian shed, walkway, illuminated walkway, would have been possible without interfering with the construction activities -- is being ignored. So this is kind of like we all 145 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 got to get together, and with a meeting of the minds, I think reasonable people could come up with reasonable solutions.
I agree with you, Councilman. I think that what we experienced was a heightened level of scrutiny by the folks that issue these permits of the Streets Department. We have no quarrel with them, but they scrutinized what the effect of our closings would be, what we were going to do, and participated in many public meetings, and we can only thank Councilman Clarke and his office, as well as the Streets Department in coming to the resolution we did. No doubt there are instances where you could do the covered sidewalk, and that would be appropriate there. I guess what I'm urging is that we not set up a standardization that is so strict that we can't have exceptions without having to go to another board and create a procedure or a process that would 146 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 further burden development in Philadelphia. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I understand and I appreciate that, and I don't think that's our intention here, but gathering this information and at least putting out in the public forum the fact that we do care and we are concerned and we want to be responsive collectively with the Building Industry Association and others who are looking to do business in the City, I think we can work through these things. I mean, Councilman Kenney and I talked about a very small project in South Philadelphia, a two-story row home, but that's kind of reflective of some of the larger developments that are going on in the City of Philadelphia where sidewalks continually remain closed for pedestrian access long after the necessity to keep them closed has passed. I mean, there's nothing but interior work going on in this two-story row house. 147 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 There are no cranes that are necessary. It's all brought in by hand, but yet they choose to close the entire sidewalk and take one parking spot for several months. So, again, that's just a small example of what, in my opinion having seen a lot of this stuff, that reflects some of the larger projects as well.
We have no 11 dispute with your assessment of those situations. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Do you having something for this witness?
Yes. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Okay. Councilwoman Quinones.
Obviously you feel targeted because it was cited. A question in this case, because you don't show the other angles, and I was at Stiletto's the other day, not because I was buying, but I was at an event -- 148 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I was going to ask --
I couldn't walk on those shoes. Did you take the walkways on all sides of this building?
Well, there are only the two sides of the building, except for Walnut Street. We neighbor 1845 with an entire length of the building, but --
But on Samson Street did you take the length of your building?
I think the photograph has most of it. We only -- some people wouldn't like the word "only" there. The street is closed and the sidewalk is closed for the 163 feet that is adjacent to the property that we own. So we don't go any further. But if you were coming from Sansom Street, you would, unfortunately, as was explained today, you would find -- I hope there's a 149 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 sign there. I don't have the photograph. You can see there are some signs here. I think you would find it -- it would fence. You can get up to our property and no further. And if somebody has suggestions on how we can better what we're doing, we're welcome to do that.
Yeah. The Councilman showed it. My only point is that I think that -- and I would hope that we're not going to be so rigid in this standardization, especially since this would be something new that we wouldn't be flexible, but I think my point is, without some protocols around this, you have situations like this where you don't even consider if we're going to infringe on the walkway, which one do we do where we have the minimal impact based on our 150 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 traffic patterns. And in this particular case, you're in a commercial corridor. So I guess we appreciate your feedback and we understand that there can be these exceptions, but without any discussion on this, then it's open. Because I would think that if we had had some standards and we say to you, You could only take one of those sidewalks, you figured it out. You would have to figure it out.
That was certainly a challenge that was presented to us by the neighbors, and I hope we were able to convince them -- we almost came to a written agreement, the terms of which we continue to follow even though it was never signed. But I think we were able to persuade people in a project of 33 stories, covering what almost is half a City block, that we could not have done 151 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 this with just one sidewalk and one lane. There's just too much going on, too much -- I imagine we could do it if we wanted to build the project in six years, but I think that's not the alternative that the neighbors would have wanted. So we looked into all of those alternatives, and you can imagine with 10 or so neighbors and many meetings, that 11 every possible configuration was 12 presented to us as a challenge. 13
Along with 16 putting a covered walkway and storing 17 materials on top of that, which we were 18 able to persuade them wasn't the best of 19 worlds. 20
Well, since we've almost finished developing Center City, as you guys move to the 7th Councilmanic District, you're not going to have as much of a problem with the sidewalks. 152 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 But I just think -- and, again, both Councilmen DiCicco and Clarke I know have been actively involved in some of this thing. I think that we're too big of a city not to have some standards around this, and we're going to have some challenges around this, as you heard previously, just trying to get our Streets Department and our L&I Department to coordinate this. So we understand there's some challenges. So we appreciate the feedback, but we're a big city and this is -- I heard the testimony of New York and I was a little embarrassed that we're so behind. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Mr. Baxter.
I'm sorry. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: I'm sorry. Councilman Kenney. I apologize.
I just have a couple of questions relative to -- let me just say at the outset, the reason 153 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 that we're here is because, in my view, kind of the pendulum swinging so far this way and very little, if any, consideration for the pedestrian or the vehicle, your project aside, just in general terms.
And the bicyclists. It seems that we're now swinging back this way to get some common sense back to the process. And it always happens like that. When people get -- and me personally, when I get annoyed at seeing some of the stuff that goes on on our City sidewalks and streets during construction projects and then -- I don't know if you heard earlier -- then I go to another city and I say, damn, this is -- I mean, you're doing more construction than we're doing and I can get around Manhattan easier than I can get around Center City. I recognize the peculiar 154 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 problems relative to this particular project in Rittenhouse House, the historic area, narrow streets. I get it. But there's a period of time that I recall -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that there was no work going on there whatsoever, that there were periods of work where there's kind of a hole and then we still had the sidewalk gone. And I don't know what the length of time was, but I traverse that area a lot. There was a period of time I remember no work going on at all. Was there a period of time when that was the case?
There was a period of time when -- there were two periods of time in which there was no 19 work going on. The first period of time, if my recollection is correct, only the property was fenced and not the sidewalk. Then there was a period of time in which -- and we may have captured some of the sidewalk at that time, because work had begun, in which we were negotiating 155 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 what road closures would take place. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if we lost six months while we were negotiating and talking with the City.
During that six-month period, did we need to have the sidewalk taken?
Well, we would have needed -- we were doing what work we could. We didn't know what day we would get the approval. Our general contractor had already checked with the City and had anticipated to be able to go in timely and getting all of Sansom Street closed. We decided we were not going to push that at that time and we entered into discussions.
I have no 24 problem with the process that delays you or the City. I mean, I understand that 156 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 it's not exactly a pleasant process, and when you have a controversial project, there's even more delays involved, but there's periods of time during that project's life where people didn't have to walk in the street. I mean, there was nothing going on. There was not stuff being -- there wasn't cement being delivered. There wasn't things being craned up. There was nothing. There was nothing there. And my point of view is, if you want to kind of mitigate the complaints, during the periods of time where you don't need the sidewalk, you should give it back.
I will find out for you the dates, Councilman. It is my recollection that the property but not the sidewalk was fenced during the so-called downtime. The other time is from digging the hole. But you may be right, and I will find out and I will inform the members of the Committee and you, sir. 157 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088
And your project may be the exception to the rule. It may be one of those projects that, geez, we just can't figure out what we can do to make this work, so we got to close the sidewalk and take a lane. And I'm certainly willing to accept that. My problem is not as much with you, unless you could have opened it and the guys didn't, but that aside, it's more with the City not having any kind of standard as to what we do. I mean, there were other projects in Center City at that time, there was one at 15th and Locust, that went on like the Pyramids. It went on forever. I mean, I had restaurant guys coming to me saying, People can't get to my restaurants, it's nuts. And there are other projects similar to that where -- the one out across from the Curtis Center, that project going on behind the Warwick, or maybe it is the Warwick. I mean, that's the sidewalk, the lane on a pretty busy street, on 158 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 Locust Street. So we just need some standardization and at least some process that we can figure out does this make sense or not. So, I mean, I'm glad you guys built Rittenhouse. I think it's a 9 terrific project. I think it's going to 10 bring people to the town that's going to get a tax abatement perhaps, but are going to spend money and do the things that we want everybody who lives in the City to do. I just want to be able to make it as convenient for everybody as we can. And the cost to the developer, I recognize that, but when developers decide they're going to do a project of that scale, of that price, in that location, I mean, you know your numbers. The people you represent are successful developers. They're not going to do something they're going to lose money at generally, unless something happens to the economy that's unforeseen. But the 159 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 extra costs associated with making people safe I think are worth it, within reason. Thank you. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Mr. Baxter. And I would remind everyone that immediately after the conclusion of this hearing, the Committee on Economic --
Oh, I apologize. I didn't realize there was another hearing. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: No 15 problem. -- will be convened. Mr. Baxter.
Good afternoon. F. Driscoll Company, a member company for the General Building Contractors Association, GBCA. I would like to thank the Chairman and this Committee for allowing me to testify and Councilman Kenney for your interest in pedestrian safety near construction 160 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 projects. While we understand the desire to try to keep sidewalks open and available to public as possible, the member companies of the GBCA are concerned about the attempts to limit sidewalk closures during construction projects in the City of Philadelphia. Over the years, there have been several instances where even after great diligence, things fall from buildings, which can create major hazards. Even with properly constructed canopies or sheds or shelters, as some people have called them, built to acceptable engineering standards, there is no 18 guarantee that large items do not fall. Just a look at the recent crane accidents in New York City and Miami, where the only way to prevent fatalities would be to assure that everyone was kept completely away from harm, not just underneath a shed. Keeping sidewalks open can also 161 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 be a problem, as it might cross paths with vehicle access to the job site. On larger job sites, the daily traffic of concrete trucks, steel deliveries and dump trucks could be as high as 100 trucks a day, trucks an hour or one 8 every five minutes. 9 Primarily, it seems we are 10 focused on the street -- primary it seems 11 like we were forced into the street 12 because the buildings are designed with foundations that come right up to against the curb. Because of the nature of construction, building a foundation of the building, putting in soldier piles, lagging for excavation, making room for a the foundation walls, it is not possible to build without disrupting the sidewalks. This lack of space requires us to request closure of lanes for deliveries of building materials and the removal of construction debris. The nature of an urban environment forces the construction beyond the perimeters of the 162 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 site. If you drive in New York City, you will note sites are sometimes even given two lanes of traffic, one for staging of construction material and one for pedestrian canopy. But you still find with the canopy people walking in the middle of the street. Even in Philadelphia, we have some jobs with properly installed sidewalk canopies and you still see the public walking in the street. One such example will be the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where sidewalks were kept open along South Broad Street because the Streets Department was willing to give us enough room for the canopy. Even with the canopy being built, people still continue to walk in the middle of the street. Likewise, even when there was a sidewalk on the opposite side of the construction site along the entire length of Spruce Street, we observed many times pedestrians refusing 163 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 to use the sidewalk and walking along the fence line. There are various other hazards that exist keeping sidewalks open, even covered, because the law of gravity. Many years ago in University City during a renovation project, there was a shelter built for pedestrians to an acceptable standard. In spite of the effort, during off hours a sandstone cornice fell from the building. A student on a bicycle was hit by the aluma-joist as the canopy was actually broke apart. Fortunately for the young man, he was not injured, but the result could be worse. It could have been fatal. Recently, in another location, a piece of heavy equipment several stories fell onto a shelter that was crushed by the impact. Had the canopy been for pedestrian use, possibly many innocent civilians would have been injured or worse. Several years ago while 164 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES.
080088 building Liberty One, during a severe wind storm swing scaffolds, which were hung from the building to install glass, broke free from its moorings and were smashing against the exterior walls on several floors above the street level. At that time, the entire workforce stopped what they were doing, went to the ground and assisted the Philadelphia Police Department for any pedestrians from walking in the area where the glass was showering down. Even so, with the construction workers and the police officers, they still had pedestrians insisting to walk down the street and be possibly showered with glass. Our position is that the safest configuration to the public removes pedestrians from the possible harm from a construction site, not just creating a canopy or a shed. New York, Washington and San Francisco have street configurations that are much wider and much amenable to building shelters in a 165 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 lane of traffic. We do not have streets as wide as 6th Avenue or Broadway in New York City, which have six lanes. We have, at best, four lanes of traffic and normally only two lanes of traffic. Thank you again for this opportunity to testify. Also, Mr. Chairman, I have a typical layout of a construction site to give some of your examples, if you would.
I just have one. It's not your position, is it, that having a 300-pound per square foot live load capacity is actually in fact dangerous to pedestrians? I mean, to hear you tell it, you would think that these people, God forbid, they should ever be under there ever. I mean, New York seems to have this down to a 166 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 science, and I will stipulate for you the sidewalks are wider and there's certain streets that are wider, but not every street in New York is wider than every street in Philadelphia. But some of the examples that you were giving would lead one to believe that somehow a properly constructed pedestrian shed is more dangerous than walking in the street.
I wouldn't necessarily say it's more dangerous. If I may use this example, here is a current project in the City of Philadelphia at 1706 Rittenhouse Square, and if you can see where the crane is and the trucks, that's the job site itself. And with real estate being the premiere factor here, the building is built curb to curb. There is no place to go. Currently, we have a lane closure along 17th Street. If the resolution possibly went forward, we would have to keep that lane closure and the sidewalk open along 17th Street, 167 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 where right now the trucks are there.
Between Locust and Pine? COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: That's down the street from Davio's.
If you come right past Rittenhouse and that's Rittenhouse Street, it's right there at 17th Street.
So as a construction industry, it would be very difficult for us to do our work and actually make the deliveries needed. And another main issue would be actually 168 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 every time the truck pulls out, they're crossing the pedestrians. Another case in point, which wasn't in my testimony, but building the Apollo, there was a time where Broad Street, North Broad Street, was remained open, and every time a truck would come out, we would have a laborer stopping all traffic, and the majority were students. A lot of times they would be persistent and not want to listen to our flag men. In one case, one was walking across the walkway. We had to stop him. He refused to stop. A tractor-trailer came up. The gentleman actually got his foot crushed and lost his toes. So if we could have had Broad Street shut down and everybody diverted to the other side in that case.
So what you're telling me is shutting down a sidewalk on Broad Street and requiring pedestrians to cross Broad Street --
-- in larger volumes than they would normally, because you wouldn't have everybody crossing, is safer?
It's safer in the sense that they would not be actually conflicting or crossing, if you would, construction with trucks coming in and out.
Are you required to have a flag person out there all the time?
No, no. 20 When the construction site is active, is there a flag person on 17th Street?
My point is that the trucks still go in and out? 170 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088
And you have trucks going in and out. You have a flag person on --
Because let me tell you something before go, I've been by that site times, never saw a 18 flag person. My understanding is in 19 other cities, the flag person for that 20 situation is absolutely required and is 21 on site the entire time the site is 22 active. 23 So why will you have one soon? 24
Well, what I'm 25 saying is, like this configuration here, 171 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 we're not there yet. Right now we're only digging the hole. Once we get into the mode where concrete trucks, one after another after another, will be showing up.
So then why is the street closed? COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Could I interrupt for a minute?
Absolutely, sir. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: You're digging the hole. Are the trucks hauling away the material?
I'm sorry. I have no more questions. COUNCILMAN DiCICCO: Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for your patience. 172 4/3/08 - STREETS - RES. 080088 This concludes the hearing on the Committee of Streets and Services. This hearing will be held to the call of the Chair. Thank you. (Committee on Streets and Services adjourned at 3:50 p.m.) - - - 173 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on April 3, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)