John Boyle of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia presented a petition with 721 signatures to the board calling for the $3.2 million for the ramp to be restored to the agency's capital budget for 2012.
Wagner asked the board's staff to prepare a resolution for a board vote next month on restoring the funding for the ramp and for the planned reopening of the long-closed Franklin Square subway station.
Wagner said he feared that without such action, the DRPA board would spend the $10 million left from the economic-development settlement on non-transportation projects.
The Franklin Square station, built in 1936, opened intermittently and last used in 1979, lies beneath newly refurbished Franklin Square at Sixth and Race Streets. There, a fountain, carousel and miniature golf course have brought new life to the once-seedy park that was one of William Penn's original five squares.
The board in 2009 authorized the money for its reopening, but the funding for the station, like the funding for the bridge ramp, was cut from the 2012 budget, Nash said, because it wasn't necessary for the "safety and security" of the bridges or PATCO.
"We needed to pare down our capital budget," Nash said. "It's a question of what we can afford."
Contact staff writer Paul Nussbaum at 215-854-4587 or pnussbaum@phillynews.com
Inquirer staff writer Maya Rao contributed to this article.
