Streets Department Helpful Hints

Streets Department Helpful Hints, by Omar Rosa

An important goal of the Streets Department and the City of Philadelphia is to provide Philadelphia's residents, visitors, and workforce, better and more accessible sidewalks and roadways. 

Representatives from the Streets Department, to include their new Commissioner (Kristin Del Rossi), Chief Highway Engineer (Michelle Brisbon), Assistant Chief Traffic Engineer (Thomas Buck), and the Director of the Office of Multimodal Planning (Kelly Yemen), accepted the invitation and met with the AIA L&I Committee on October 30th, 2024. The purpose of this meeting/presentation was to provide the Streets Department with a public outreach opportunity to talk about some of their Department's goals, new initiatives, as well as to receive feedback from the design community.

The L&I Committee had prepared a set of questions to help guide the meeting that also touched on the overall permitting process with the Streets Department. The atmosphere for the meeting/presentation was intended to be open and informal, and as a result, a great conversation between the audience, AIA Committee Members, and Streets Department occurred. 

As mentioned by the Streets Department during the discussions, one of the best way to avoid project “snags” is to get the project in front of the Streets Department as soon as possible. 

For smaller projects, it is recommended to email or setup meetings with the Streets Department utilizing the following emails/links:

Email: [email protected]

Website: Scheduling an Appointment with the Streets Department Right-Of-Way Unit.

For projects that may require a Civic Design Review, Zoning Variances and/or projects that abut a PennDOT roadway, a Developer Services Meeting may be warranted. A Developer Services Meeting goes beyond the review of work in the right of way and may bring in representatives from L&I, Planning Commission, PWD, affected utility companies, etc. To coordinate these meetings, send an email to:

Email: [email protected].

PennDOT Roadways Map: Philadelphia PennDOT Roadways

By following this process and communicating project plans, goals, and timelines, the chances to set the project up for success and “no surprises” is greatly enhanced. Specifically, key improvements, project design requirements, and/or supporting documents (i.e. traffic impact studies) that the project may trigger should be identified earlier in the design process. This in turn should lead to more timely, accurate, and complete project submissions and subsequent review cycles.

For the latest Streets Department design standards, please follow this link.

Website: Design and construction | Department of Streets | City of Philadelphia

For ADA curb ramp questions, send emails to:

Email: [email protected].

As regulations change, we will look to update the design community accordingly. 

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the L&I committee.