Nutter’s Roosevelt Blvd. Solution: Spectators
October 14, 2008 –
Just days after announcing a comprehensive safety campaign for Roosevelt Blvd., Mayor Michael Nutter has reversed course–this morning introducing a plan to instead add ticket booths, bleacher seats and concessions along the 12-lane highway, one of the most hazardous in America. "After a review, we've concluded that the $3.2 million [cost of the planned advertising campaign] would likely have little effect on a road where risky driving has become a tradition," he conceded to gathered reporters. "In contrast, turning that same driving into a spectator sport would generate tens of millions in revenue."
 Reaction to the mayor's surprising new proposal were mixed. "I agree that a few safety ads won't make those maniacs slow down," said Neil Dwyer of SafeRoadsPA. "But encouraging speeding outright will open an entirely new can of worms. Even if it would be fun to watch." According to Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D., Phila), who backed the original plan, "There have been 3,000 accidents on that road in the last five years alone. I know that race fans like to see crashes, but to me, [the plan is] poor public policy."
To Nutter, though, dismissal of the new initiative would amount to a wasted opportunity. "We have exciting, high-speed races on Roosevelt Blvd. 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said. "Add to that crazy, unpredictable events like yesterday's police standoff, and we're talking grade-A entertainment. NASCAR pales in comparison." Dwyer reluctantly agreed. "Each day, thousands go whizzing down the boulevard, making hairpin turns, cutting each other off by mere inches, giving each other the finger," he said. "We might as well go up there and cheer them on."
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