Today, Mayor Kenney shared his Fiscal Year 2021 Budget and Five-Year Plan. It features important new investments focused on the top priorities for his second term, including reducing gun violence, investing in education, and making streets safer and cleaner.
The City’s single largest capital investment continues to be fixing the quality of Philadelphia’s streets—to the tune of $52.1 million this year, and $335.6 million over six years.
Since 2016, Mayor Kenney’s administration has more than doubled the number of miles paved. Moving our roadways towards a state of good repair remains a top priority. Today he introduced plans to invest $240 million in street paving alone over six years.
The Mayor also reaffirmed his commitment to designing safer streets that promote zero fatalities and put people first. This will be done through a $9 million investment in Vision Zero over six years. The funding will also help the city deliver on its goal of creating 40 miles of protected bike lanes by 2025.
The City proposed $4.7 million for SEPTA to support capital improvements at stations and other facilities. This is in addition to the annual $89 million local operating budget contribution the City provides to SEPTA. In addition, the city will leverage grant funding through a $1.4 million appropriation for repairing bridges.
Most notably, we’ll expand street sweeping to all residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors citywide.
The Mayor reiterated that the City learned a great deal from its street sweeping pilot in six neighborhoods in 2019. Capital funding was used to buy new mechanical brooms and hire new laborers. Residents supported the program, and said they noticed their blocks were cleaner because of this program. In fact, 96 percent of residents in the pilot areas supported expanding the program citywide.
As a result of this pilot, Mayor Kenney proposed $10 million to expand street sweeping to more neighborhoods in Fiscal Year 21, and $67 million over five years.
As part of the 2020 program, mechanical cleaning will be expanded to new neighborhoods and in some areas, cars will be required to move during sweeping operations. Full details of the 2020 program will be announced later this Spring.
