Chestnut Hill residents told city officials Wednesday that simply repainting crosswalks won't be enough to address pedestrian safety concerns along Germantown Avenue, calling instead for increased enforcement and speed cameras after a series of near-misses on the busy commercial corridor. 

The demands came during a packed community meeting at Jenks School where about 150 people lined up to share stories of close calls with speeding vehicles and reckless drivers. While city officials attending the Jan. 15 meeting promised to fund new crosswalk painting, community members insisted more comprehensive solutions are needed to protect pedestrians in the historic neighborhood.

Currently, visitors to the neighborhood’s section of Germantown Avenue will find cobblestone streets, historic buildings and shops, but they won't find something far more basic: marked crosswalks. From Cresheim Valley Drive to Chestnut Hill Avenue, pedestrians contend with unmarked or faded crosswalks, cracked pavement and drivers who seem more concerned with making lights than watching for pedestrians.

The meeting followed a November incident that heightened years of community frustration over deteriorating conditions and traffic safety. City Councilmember Cindy Bass's office organized the gathering, which brought together representatives from the Streets Department, State Rep. Tarik Khan (D., Phila.), and concerned residents to address what many describe as a decade-long problem.

Jane Nathanson sparked the renewed urgency for action after she was crossing Germantown Avenue at Moreland Avenue with her young child when a car sped around a stopped SEPTA bus, coming within feet of hitting them.

"For me, this is about prevention. I am so deeply aware of the luck that no one was hit that day, and I am aware that many people are not that lucky," Nathanson said at the meeting. "After attending to my child that day, I knew I wanted to get engaged, to do my best to prevent tragedy and get involved politically."

At the meeting, residents lined up to ask questions, share similar stories of close calls, accidents and general fears of crossing Germantown Avenue.

One common thread between speakers was that simply painting the crosswalks is not enough to protect pedestrians. While a number of ideas were discussed, better enforcement by police or speed cameras emerged as a popular solution.

Timothy Breslin, one of the audience members who spoke at the meeting, said he used some “homegrown tech” to track the speed of vehicles on nearby Highland Avenue over four months this past summer. After removing delivery and emergency vehicles from the data, Breslin found that 80% of vehicles traveling 10 mph over the speed limit were “repeat offenders.” 

So while speeding is an issue on Germantown Avenue, he said, “it's more people just flagrantly ignoring the law and just going around people and running red lights.”

Greater patrolling of the area presents challenges, however. The 14th Police District, which covers parts of Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and parts of Germantown, is experiencing a shortage of manpower. About 106 officers are assigned to the district, down from about 220 two years ago.

"Manpower is how many officers I have on the street, where am I deploying, and why," 14th District Captain Stuart McCoullum explained in a recent interview with the Local. "We have the least amount of officers that's ever been in this building, so I was tasked with, how do we do more with less? That means we have to be strategic in our approach. I can't put somebody everywhere, because every meeting I go to, someone has a different intersection."

With limited manpower, McCoullum said, speeding barriers installed by elected officials have "helped tremendously."

Anne McNiff, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Community Association, said her organization is exploring the possible use of speed cameras. 

"We know the data shows they are successful in parts of the city, so let's see what it would take to get them, not just here in Chestnut Hill, but all up and down Germantown Avenue," she said. 

Bass, who attended the meeting, said that her office would help find funding for crosswalk improvements. 

"I hear you, as someone who shops and is frequently on the Hill, and whose daughter went to preschool right across the street, so I'm very familiar with the comings and goings and how it affects the neighborhood," she said.

Bass explained that capital project funds are "available right now, so we would like to see this done as quickly as possible."

However, questions remain about the timeline and scope of the work. The crosswalks suffer from cracked concrete and damaged cobblestone in addition to faded paint.

"There is such a great need for repair that it appears to us, really the restriping can't happen until some of these repairs happen, because you can't paint over a hole," McNiff said. "We will be following up with her office to ask about that and to request a timeline for the work."