The Olney/Chew Avenue corridor is an important street that connects several neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and transportation hubs. We’ve heard from neighbors, and by looking at the data, that this project needs to focus on these challenges:

• There are a lot of crashes on the street, and it needs to be designed reduce crashes and improve safety for all.
• Bus speeds are slow. The Olney/Chew Ave corridor is the busiest transit corridor outside of Center City, with 19,000 riders a day, and improvements are needed to make the bus faster and more reliable.
• There are also a lot of people walking on Olney Avenue, especially high school and college students walking to and from their schools. Pedestrian safety is very important for this street.
• The bike lanes on Olney Ave between Wister and Broad Street don’t feel safe.
• Neighbors have told us about aggressive driving, including unsafe U-Turns.

Below you can find the 2022 Planning Study called the “Conceptual Design Report.” This includes details about community feedback collected during the study period, and shows concept plans of what the street might look like in the future.

The City is currently in the Design phase of the project, expected to end in 2025. Documents will be added to this page that are shared with neighbors via email and at public events. 

To sign up to receive updates about this project, please contact otis@phila.gov and ask to be added to the mailing list.