Not much to look at, but a nifty little way to avoid traffic around University of Penn
OF BIKE LANES, BACK ROUTES AND BYWAYS
Our Tool School Instructor, Aaron Ritz, has an incredible day job—working for the city of Philadelphia to encourage green transport as Active Transportation Coordinator. You may have had the pleasure of cycling along the new bike lanes on 10th and 13th Streets in Center City—a project Aaron’s been part of. We recently had occasion to go from 27th and South to 13th and Spring Garden. We rode every inch of it via bike lanes. Man, was that relaxing. Cheers to Aaron, Da Mayor, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and all the other people who made it happen.
Not all bike routes are found on maps, though—including a little bit of road we call Franklin’s Cut. At the western end of the South Street Bridge, a curb cut leads to a service road behind Franklin Field, nominally 32nd Street. Take a little dogleg around the bridge which will soon connect to Penn Park, and you’re within a stone’s throw of a new little cafe, Brysi, that’s tucked into one of Franklin Field’s arches.
Dip under the Walnut Street Bridge—portage up the stairs up to Walnut Street and there’s the Left Bank Apartments, home to a row of shops and restaurants including Biba, Picnic and well, us—Trophy Bikes. Or go right using the Walnut St. bike lanes to hit the Penn Book Center on 34th Street, or on Sansom, Avril 50—Philadelphia’s greatest, best-smelling (and most cramped) magazine store.
Or push further north, past Chestnut, pedal through Drexel’s odd little sculpture park, then cross Market Street onto JFK Boulevard, which will kink around and get you to 30th Street Station with a lot less nasty traffic than Market. It’s also a great way to get to reach Lancaster Avenue and points north; at Market, jog right, cross 32nd Street, hop the curb and ride (at a stately pace) along Drexel’s Lancaster walkway, then grab whatever street suits you best.
That’s Franklin’s Cut, a little brush stroke on the masterpiece that is William Penn’s street grid. Find a little map of it right HERE, courtesy of Trophy staffer and Geographic Information Systems grad student Alan Wiig.
Thanks for reading and riding….
–mcget/trophy bikes
trophy bikes university city (3131 Walnut open mon-fri 8am–6pm)
trophy bikes northern liberties (1040 N. American St. open noon-7pm, seven days)
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