BRT in Bogatá, Colombia
- Flying Kite looks at the Planning Commission’s proposal for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the submerged City Branch right-of-way, hinting that SEPTA, which already owns the land, is more inclined toward this possibility than it is for allowing it to become part of a Reading Viaduct park. What’s more, the plan is cheap at $75 million.
- The Board of City Trusts, which oversees the Girard Estate, and thereby Girard College, is considering how best to ensure the financial security of the historic boarding school, all the while upgrading a fair amount of its aged facilities.
- With City Council to consider amending the zoning code (already) for the sake of increased residential parking, Eyes on the Street takes the time to suggest five very convincing reasons why setting minimum lot requirements is foolhardy.
- Curbed Philly reports that the 34-story 2116 Chestnut Street was topped off yesterday. The apartment building, which is expected to offer 321 rental units when it opens next summer, was the site of Louis Magaziner’s modernist Sidney Hillman Medical Center.
- Attendance is has tripled at the newly renovated Rodin Museum on the Parkway, says to NewsWorks, thanks in part to increased interest after the acclaimed opening of the Barnes Foundation just next door.
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
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PLEASE TELL ME THIS BRT ISN’T GONNA HAPPEN! Viaduct greenes proposal is by far the best idea.
LOOK! A 3 mile. Linear park which doubles as a alternate transit way. ( biking , walking. ) is a no BRAINER and I’d guess the cheapest.. Does anyone think a bus line is gonna help those local community’s … You wanna see places transformed? Do the HIGHLINE , no we wouldn’t get or want super rich moving in but you’d sure as hell get a lot of middle income , seniors , and student housing setting up along the park route.. The argument against
Train service was it goes from nowhere to nowhere… So how do you suppose the brt fares are gonna support
It’s operational costs….. It won’t !! The mayor wants more park space well here it is!! You wanna make north Philly whole again with what’s below vine street ? Bring the park across the expressway and connect it up to the convention ctr roof and over to the reading terminal markets roof.. THE WOULD BE GREAT AND DO ALOT MORE FORVTHE CITY THAN A BUS LINE NOBODY WANTS BUT SEPTA !!!
What makes the High Line work in New York City is its accessibility to most of the city’s residents. It’s never more than a block or two from subway stations which provide accessibility to residents from the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. That sort of transit accessibility is sorely lacking in Fairmount, while the area features what may be one of the densest concentrations of bike paths in the City of Philadelphia. I hate to echo the Victorians who claimed users of Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel would suffer ill effects of miasma, but I can think of few places more depressing to walk than the dank tunnel under Pennsylvania Avenue when I could be walking past the Art Museum and along the Schuylkill.
It’s also worth noting that at the western end of the tunnel there are still active CSX freight tracks which pass under the Art Museum. It is really not going to be particularly pleasant to walk or bike through the tunnel between (probably) 24th and 27th during times when a freight train is entering or exiting the tunnel’s northern portal. And perhaps most importantly, CSX will likely have some say regarding the potential access to their tracks any ped/bike path would create. The Pennsylvania Avenue tunnel may be very wide, but the Art Museum tunnel is a very tight single track tunnel which could spell doom to anyone foolish enough to try to use it as a shortcut. Inviting thousands of people into the tunnel’s portal raises the possibility of more people attempting to pass through the CSX tunnel down to the Schuylkill.
The Reading Viaduct might make a nice park (or maybe not), but that has no bearing on whether the City Branch would.
Plus, w/r/t costs, keep in mind that a park isn’t simply a matter of planting a tree and walking away. As Inga Saffron pointed out in her article on the City Branch the other day, the city can barely afford to keep Rittenhouse Square looking presentable. And at least it has photosynthesis going for it.