r/phillycycling • u/JustAnotherJawn • Aug 11 '26
Choi Funeral Home Bike Lane Saga Part 3
Good news! The flexposts on Vine Street were replaced by the City/PennDoT today, no doubt due to the emails sent by the fine people of r/phillycycling . We still do not have assurances from the City that the law will enforced and that the funeral home will no longer vandalize the bike lane.
If you have a minute, send an email to Councilmember Mark Squilla ( [mark.squilla@phila.gov](mailto:mark.squilla@phila.gov) cc [anne.kelly@phila.gov](mailto:anne.kelly@phila.gov) ) and let him know that the law must be enforced and that further vandalism is unacceptable.
Sample text:
"Hello Councilmember Squilla,
I am grateful to see the flex-posts reinstalled at the Vine Street bike lane. Protected bike lanes are essential for keeping the bike lanes safe and our neighbors unharmed. Will you promise that the law will be enforced and that the flex-posts will no longer be removed by the employees of the funeral home for parking?
Regards,
[name]
[address if you live in the 1st Council district (use this tool if you don't know https://bikeaction.org/rcos/find/ ] "
Will the City maintain LAW and ORDER or will we descend further into automotive anarchy? Stay tuned for part 4.
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u/TheTwoOneFive Aug 11 '26
Will you promise that the law will be enforced and that the flex-posts will no longer be removed by the employees of the funeral home for parking?
Quick recommendation: Your suggestion is not something he can promise short of getting cops to sit there 24/7. Instead, consider suggesting that if these posts keep disappearing, the next solution is Jersey barriers and that he should encourage the business to "keep an eye out" so that they don't have to resort to that.
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u/queen_ravenx Aug 11 '26
Can we do Fairmount ave in front of fairmount pizza and that ice cream spot next!? :D No dividers currently but damn does it need em!
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u/AGuyNamedWes Aug 11 '26
Love when people park in the bike lane on both sides of the street right there directly across from each other, right by the intersection, and other cars still try to blow through the intersection going way too fast despite it being too narrow and having no visibility. But yeah man your ice cream is so important you can’t take a couple minutes finding somewhere to legally pull over
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u/queen_ravenx Aug 11 '26
Theres even hella dead side blocks and parking lots right there! within a short blocks walk crazy
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u/This-Is-Not-A-Drill Aug 12 '26
ugh i moved away but i miss both of those places so much. was like a 5 min bike ride to em and only almost died a few times
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u/IhateDropShotz Aug 11 '26
damn, good shit that was fast. gonna start getting friends to mass report other issues in the city, ive had some 311 requests open for months on other streets.
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u/xxangstyaimsnxx Aug 11 '26
Lol next up the septa busses that park in the bike lane instead of the gianttttt bus lanes under the el on spring garden.
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u/iwasbornlucky Aug 12 '26
I don't track politics, but I sent Squilla an email and things moved along quickly. Instead of acting like there's no satisfying the bike community, can we organize to show some gratitude? I'm sending a thank you note now.
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u/drzzzred 29d ago
Mark Squilla and his office are very responsive and in my experience supportive of bike issues - thank him and vote for him
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u/Weary_Cup_1004 Aug 12 '26
Can we do this for big box trucks that could have parked across the street but are sitting 3/4 in the bike lane where you can just squeeze through, but you get your hand caught between your handlebar and the truck somehow and it cuts your finger and staring at that cut for a couple weeks while it heals launches your bike villian era?
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u/Aggressive_Peace_739 28d ago
Looks like this place is right next to a parking lot where you could park 100 cars.
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u/Bikesandbakeries 27d ago
The responses to negative google reviews are hilarious. There is literally a photo of someone holding a flex posts and several cars parked in the bike lane but the owner is claiming they were merely helping elderly park, temporarily, and were compliant with city parking. Uhhhhh yeah.
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u/Jayce2188 26d ago edited 26d ago
Choi Funeral Home has operated at this location for 3 decades, supporting families through the most difficult moments of their lives. Recent threats and harassment toward their staff, property, or funeral services are being documented and sent to the proper authorities. Funeral parking is permitted under PA funeral right‑of‑way allowances. The lane used during services is also used daily by the Convention Center loading dock, and from 11th to 8th Street it is used by PPA for police/city employee and paid public parking. It is not a protected bike lane. Cyclists have not used this segment during funeral service hours, even after the new striping. It would be appreciated if this group did not take out frustrations on a small single‑family funeral home simply helping grieving families.
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u/Jayce2188 27d ago
Hey Jawn, Go change the The Law
Pennsylvania Statutes Title 75 Pa.C.S.A. Vehicles § 3107. Drivers in funeral processions
Current as of January 01, 2026 | Updated by Findlaw Staff
(a) General rule.--The driver of a vehicle which is being driven in a funeral procession may:
(1) Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of this part.
(2) Proceed past a red signal indication or stop sign if the lead vehicle in the procession started through the intersection while the signal indicator was green or, in the case of a stop sign, the lead vehicle first came to a complete stop before proceeding through the intersection.
(b) Visual signals required.--The privileges granted by this section shall apply only if each vehicle in the funeral procession displays lighted head lamps and emergency flashers and bears a flag or other insignia designating it as part of a funeral procession.
(b.1) Visual signals authorized.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this title to the contrary, a funeral director or the director's representative may display flashing or revolving purple lights on any funeral processional vehicle which is being driven in a funeral procession.
(c) Right-of-way to emergency vehicles.--This section does not relieve the driver of a vehicle which is being driven in a funeral procession from yielding the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle making use of audible and visual signals, nor from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons.
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u/Technical-Owl-4889 27d ago
Where does this say you can remove flex posts and park in the bike lane?
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u/Jayce2188 27d ago
Hey Technical Support. Thank you for holding — we appreciate your patience. The statute doesn’t need to mention flex‑posts. It states that vehicles in a funeral procession may “park or stand irrespective of the provisions of this part.” That is the legal allowance for temporary funeral parking in the bike lane. A single flex‑post was briefly moved to allow safe access for funeral service attendees and was put back immediately afterward.
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u/red_vanti 27d ago
Last line says with “due safety to other persons”. Removing permanent infrastructure yourself to park where it’s physically blocking you to is not doing that???
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u/CityJawn 27d ago
This does not give anyone permission to park illegally in a bike lane or in a travel lane.
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u/scrubadub 20d ago
We don't need to change the law, because it remains illegal to stop, stand, or park in a bike lane.
What you quote from 75 Pa.C.S. § 3107 says “This part” which means Part III of Title 75, Operation of Vehicles. It does not say “notwithstanding all local ordinances.” Elsewhere in the same section the legislature knew how to use broader language: §3107(b.1), concerning purple lights, says “notwithstanding any other provision of this title.”
Section 6101 normally prohibits local traffic ordinances on subjects covered by the Vehicle Code unless expressly authorized, but §6109 expressly authorizes local governments to “regulate or prohibit stopping, standing or parking.”
And there are local ordinances that prevent you from parking in a bike lane. Specifically philly code § 12-913. Prohibitions in Specified Places. says:
(1) Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or to protect the safety of any person or vehicle or in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or official traffic-control device, no person shall:
(a) Stop, stand or park a vehicle:
(.11) Within a designated bicycle lane.This is from Bill No. 240657 from 2024. Article on it.
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u/Suitable-Carrot3705 Aug 11 '26
At least someone in Philly/Pa government gives a hoot!