Daily lane closures have squeezed traffic on 53rd Street in West Philadelphia since July 20, marking the start of construction meant to rebuild two of Parkside Avenue's most complicated intersections. Crews are reshaping the roadway near 53rd Street before shifting the same work to Bryn Mawr Avenue in the coming weeks. The project adds sidewalk bump-outs, a sidewalk-level two-way bike lane, new traffic signals, ADA ramps and additional drainage inlets to a stretch of roadway bordering West Fairmount Park.
According to the City of Philadelphia, the work is funded through a mix of state and local dollars, including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Multimodal Transportation Fund, Automated Red-Light Enforcement money, and the city's own Vision Zero and Capital Resurfacing/ADA funds. The current phase followed a long runway: city planning ran from 2019 to 2022, engineering design continued from 2022 through 2025, and construction finally began this summer, with completion targeted for fall 2026. The Streets Department is managing the project alongside engineering partners Pennoni, JPC Group, JMT, Drive Engineering and Remington & Vernick Engineers, in coordination with 4th District Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr.
Crews Detail the Redesign, From Bump-Outs to New Signals
In a video posted Wednesday, Philadelphia Department of Streets construction unit staff walked through what's changing at the two intersections, pointing to the new sidewalk bump-outs, the sidewalk-level two-way bike lane, the new signal heads and ADA-compliant curb ramps, and the additional drainage inlets meant to move stormwater off the roadway.
The daytime schedule is deliberate. Streets reopen every afternoon and on weekends, and weekday closures run daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. — first at 53rd Street for two to three weeks, then shifting to Bryn Mawr Avenue for a similar stretch, according to the city's July construction announcement. The sequencing was designed to preserve local access to the Parkside Evans Recreation Center throughout the work, while keeping event traffic to the nearby Mann Center for the Performing Arts unaffected, the notice states.
A Corridor That Used to Top Philadelphia's Danger List
The stakes behind the redesign trace back over a decade. Between 2012 and 2016, Parkside Avenue recorded 147 crashes that caused 8 serious injuries and 3 fatalities, a toll that landed the corridor on Philadelphia's High Injury Network, according to a 2017 city presentation. A previous $2.75 million PennDOT-funded phase, reported by West Philly Local, began construction in September 2022, adding new traffic signals at 50th Street, upgrades at 52nd Street, bus boarding islands and ADA curb ramps.
Those earlier fixes appear to be paying off. Deaths and serious injuries fell from 5 recorded between 2013 and 2017 to 2 between 2018 and 2022, then to zero in 2023, a decline that led to Parkside Avenue's removal from the High Injury Network, according to Fairmount Park Conservancy. High Injury Network streets account for roughly 80% of Philadelphia's severe crashes despite making up just 12% of the city's roads, the conservancy notes.
Years of Public Meetings — and a Federal Funding Bid — Paved the Way
The final design wasn't settled overnight. The city held its fourth and final public open house on August 20, 2025, at Centennial Village on North 52nd Street, following earlier sessions in May 2025 and October 2023, according to Philly Bike Action!. Those sessions gave residents a chance to weigh in before construction began this summer.
Calls for federal help predate the current construction. In July 2021, U.S. Representative Dwight Evans introduced legislation under the INVEST in America Act seeking $4 million specifically for safety infrastructure along Parkside Avenue between 53rd Street and Bryn Mawr Avenue, according to WHYY.
The corridor carries neighborhood significance beyond crash statistics. Parkside Avenue serves as a staging route for community events such as West Philly's Juneteenth parade, which lines up nearby at 52nd and Parkside. Residents looking for more detail on the project's design and phasing can consult the city's transportation projects portal.
