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CITYSCAPE: Weighing in on Spring Garden Greenway
Planners are collecting input on a new, green vision for Spring Garden Street.
CITYSCAPE: Weighing in on Spring Garden Greenway
You may not think it now, but Spring Garden Street, with its four lanes of rushing traffic, may have the potential to become one of Philadelphia's most inviting boulevards. At least, that's the theory behind the planned Spring Garden Greenway, a project that re-envisions the road as a multi-use street with green medians or broad leafy sidewalks. Tonight, the public has a chance to weigh in on that vision, at a community meeting run by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council in partnership with the city and neighborhood groups. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., at German Society of Philadelphia at 611 Spring Garden St.
Full press release follows:
PENNSYLVANIA ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL ANNOUNCES VISION FOR SPRING GARDEN STREET GREENWAY
December 6 Meeting Invites Public to Help Plan Spring Garden Street’s Future
PHILADELPHIA, November 15, 2011 – The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) announced that they are partnering with the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Water Department to imagine the complete transformation of Spring Garden Street. The three organizations are working together with neighborhood organizations and the public to plan a redesign of this 2.2 mile stretch of Spring Garden Street. PEC and the City invite the public to a hands-on Public Design Workshop on December 6 to share ideas about Spring Garden Street and help determine how it can best serve the community. Known as the “Spring Garden Street Greenway,” the project would create the best, safest, cross-town route for walkers, cyclists and drivers.
“This proposed greenway would breathe new life into Spring Garden Street and give a boost to its surrounding areas,” said Patrick Starr, Executive Vice President of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “Designed properly it will better accommodate cars, cyclists and pedestrians, and will draw people to shop, exercise and interact on a beautifully-landscaped, tree-lined boulevard that also reduces stormwater pollution.”
Spring Garden Street was chosen as the location for this greenway after an extensive feasibility study analyzed how to best connect Philadelphia’s two riverfronts and the region’s growing trail network that already includes 210 miles of bike lanes in Philadelphia. In addition to its direct path between the rivers, Spring Garden Street has the potential to become the most user-friendly street in Philadelphia, best serving those traveling on foot, bicycle, car, bus or rail. The greenway, which would run from the Schuylkill River Trail in the west, at Pennsylvania Avenue, to the developing Delaware River Trail in the east at Columbus Boulevard, could also connect neighborhoods, unifying and leveraging investments to expand business opportunities.
“We are constantly looking at how we can make our streets work better for travelers and the adjacent communities,” said Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “Development of the Spring Garden Street Greenway is a tremendous opportunity for the street to work better for all travelers and a great link between our city’s rivers. I thank the Pennsylvania Environmental Council for being a continued leader and our partner in the effort to make Philadelphia the greenest city in America.”
The construction of the greenway would also include sustainable initiatives, helping to make Spring Garden Street more environmentally friendly. The current greenway plan design incorporates the addition of trees and landscaping to beautify the area and the properties surrounding it, and to manage stormwater runoff and keep pollution out of rivers. Trees and underground storage will absorb and filter stormwater runoff on-site rather than letting it flow into overburdened storm drains.
In addition to serving as a major transportation corridor in Philadelphia, the Spring Garden Street Greenway would also become part of the larger East Coast Greenway, a developing trail system, spanning nearly 3,000 miles and linking all the major cities on the eastern seaboard, from Maine to Key West, Florida. More than 25 percent of this route is already on safe, traffic-free paths.
The public is encouraged to attend PEC’s next project meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6 at the German Society of Philadelphia at 611 Spring Garden Street to learn more about the greenway, share opinions and participate in the Design Workshop. The project is in the Conceptual Design phase, and the meeting will be a chance for the community to review potential aspects of the greenway, and provide input and recommendations that will help the decision-making process.
“This is sure to be an interactive and hands-on experience for workshop attendees,” said Spencer Finch, Spring Garden Street Greenway project manager for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “If you have ever dreamed of being a planner or making your neighborhood better – as I did when I was a kid – then this is your chance to help make the Greenway a reality for all Philadelphians and for those who will use and enjoy it every day.”
For more information please visit www.springgardenstreetgreenway.com.
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