The Opposite of Congress

I've often lamented about the sorry state of the streets in Philadelphia (as recently as yesterday). I was called into action for an emergency pickup near my former home today, and got to see a large portion of the OTHER side of the coin.

The pickup was in Northern Liberties, about 3 miles northeast of the office, so I headed that way. I found myself on one of my favorite routes from my commercial cycling days, Spring Garden Street. It's recently been re-paved:

Obviously it still needs some additional striping to be declared complete (further west has already been completed), but even without, it's further solidifying its place as one of my favorite bike lanes in the city. Well, at least this section of Spring Garden is...the West Philly section, not so much.

Oh yea, did I mention I did this on my personal bike? OK, I did:

I've been to this client probably 30 times before, so I knew my steed could handle it. That bag only weighs about 15 pounds. Looks awkward though.

Heading back to the plant, I spent some time on another major thoroughfare in Lower North Philly that's getting a much-needed face lift, that being Girard Avenue, seen here at Broad Street:

It's been ground down but has yet to be paved East of Broad. Ultimately, I still wouldn't recommend it as your first choice as a cyclist, but it's going to be better than it was once complete. I only rode on it because I had clients there. The treacherous nature of traffic I used to deal with on a daily basis was complicated even more by the monstrous potholes that surrounded the trolley tracks, which have also been replaced. Just west of Broad, the same is true:

The parking lane still needs some work, but the cycling "lane" is in good shape up through Ridge Avenue, which also recently saw renewal:

Don't get me wrong: Ridge & Girard is still a dangerous intersection, but again, it's in much better shape now.

I moved down south, started working down south too, and all the streets finally get repaved. That guy Murphy. Let me tell ya. He's a jackass. I guess I'll take it over the usual terribly pockmarked Philly streets...