Spruce Pine Bike Lane Lawsuit Hearing on June 2

June 1, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On June 2, 2026, Philadelphia Bike Action (PBA) will be respectfully making its presence known at a judicial hearing reconsidering the City’s Motion to Dissolve a preliminary injunction, which has delayed the City from implementing safety improvements on Spruce and Pine Streets. The hearing will be at City Hall and is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.; PBA will be gathering outside on the North Apron from 12:30 p.m. with protest signs and representatives available for interview. 

Jessie Amadio, Organizer with PBA: “We appreciate the Mayor’s and Council’s efforts to prevent the needless deaths on our streets by protecting these heavily used and very popular bike lanes. We hope the Court sees through FOPS’s “not-in-my-backyard” delay tactics, dissolves this injunction, and allows our elected representatives to do their jobs by installing the long-promised and needed bike lane protection and loading zones.”

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The preliminary injunction has for almost a year prevented the City from creating the loading zones that are an important part of the City’s plan to install physical protection between the bike and motor vehicle lanes on those Spruce and Pine Streets. 

On November 19, 2017, Emily Fredricks was killed by a garbage truck while riding in the bike lane on Spruce Street. On July 17, 2024, Dr. Barbara Friedes was struck and killed by a car while riding during daylight in the bike lane on Spruce Street. 

During the summer and fall of 2024, in response to these and other incidents, the City announced plans to make the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets safer, including by installing concrete protection between them and the motor vehicle lanes. The City held many meetings with, and conducted other outreach to, the general public, Registered Community Organizations (RCOs), and residents along Spruce and Pine. The plans, including the concrete protection, were widely supported. The outreach identified substantial support for the addition of new loading zones to give residents and businesses a safe place to unload outside of the to-be-protected  bike lanes. 

In November 2024, the City enacted the “Get Out the Bike Lane Bill” to prohibit any stopping, standing, and parking in bike lanes. The following January, the City announced that its outreach had identified majority public support for concrete protection for the bike lanes and for the new loading zones. In March 2025, Mayor Parker’s proposed budget included $5,000,000 for the concrete protection. 

However, in early June 2025, the supposed “Friends of Pine and Spruce” (FOPS) commenced litigation and requested a preliminary injunction against the loading zones. On August 13, 2025, Judge Thomas-Street granted the preliminary injunction, on the grounds that the Streets Department did not have authority  to create a new category of loading zones. 

In response to the injunction, on October 29, 2025, the City enacted an ordinance clearly authorizing the new loading zones, and it then moved to dissolve the preliminary injunction. On December 31, 2025, Judge Street denied that motion without a hearing, and the City promptly moved for reconsideration of that denial. The motion for reconsideration - to dissolve the injunction against the loading zones - is the subject of the June 2, 2026 hearing.

PBA will be at the hearing to show its support for the City’s efforts to make Spruce and Pine safer for all by installing concrete protection for the bike lanes and creating loading zones that will provide a safe place to unload outside of the bike lanes.