Riverside access

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The Schuylkill and Delaware rivers may soon mirror each other when an extreme makeover — highlighted by a seven-mile hiking/walking/biking trail along the waterfront — begins as early as this month.

The path along Columbus Boulevard and the Delaware is anticipated to extend from North Philadelphia’s Allegheny Avenue to Oregon Avenue. Thanks to the Center City District, which works to enhance the vitality of Center City Philadelphia, first two phases of the project are expected to be paved over to begin the path this summer.

The initial phase is expected to be completed by Memorial Day, district’s Executive Director/CEO Paul Levy said. The first section, spanning Lombard Street to Washington Avenue, will utilize the existing sidewalk by stripping it and adding signs. He said the goal is to have the construction contract awarded by month’s end.

"The idea here is to create a safer place, particularly for parents riding with kids, to be off the street," he said.

The next phase, slated to be completed by Labor Day, will cut along the river’s edge at the Sheet Metal Workers’ parking lot at 1301 S. Columbus through the one-time Foxwoods site and end at Pier 70 at 1601 S. Columbus. The second portion will consist of cutting weeds and pouring macadam, Levy said.

"This trail is being done with easement agreements with the owners," Levy said of the properties. "They are allowing the trail to go past their site."

The riverfront trail is slated to run along the Delaware, including the parking lot behind the Sheet Metal Workers’ building at 1301 S. Columbus Blvd. Staff photo by Greg Bezanis

The district’s two-mile strip eventually will expand as a part of PennPraxis’ Action Plan for the Central Delaware.

The idea for a trail formed well before PennPraxis arrived on the scene, Levy, a former Queen Village resident, said. When $250,000 from the William Penn Foundation came along in 2007, a matching grant by the City was presented the next year and Foxwoods announced its possible relocation to the Gallery at Market East, the trail began to take shape.

The process of rejuvenating the Delaware began during the John Street administration when 1st District Councilman Frank DiCicco spoke with the former mayor, DiCicco’s legislative director Brian Abernathy said.

"The councilman approached the administration about an idea about having a vision for the Central Delaware waterfront," Abernathy said. "Mayor Street — much to his credit — issued an executive order for the Central Delaware Advisory Group, which became CDAG [a citizen advocacy group with 26 civic associations]. CDAG hired PennPraxis as a consultant and that’s how the vision was created."

The entire revitalization was later planned out and released by PennPraxis last summer. The 10-step concept to a green, accessible waterfront included parks, public access, additional public transit, extended streets, a 100-foot greenway along the river in addition to the trail. Also included was the appointment of a waterfront manager — the Delaware River Waterfront Corp., which happened in 2008 — and adopting zoning policies that were introduced in City Council last month.

"We really think that the goals we laid out and the sequence in which we laid them out are being checked off one by one by the administration," PennPraxis Executive Director Harris Steinberg said.

The City has already accepted the plan, Elinor Haider, Deputy Mayor Andrew Altman’s chief of staff, said.

"The trail, obviously, is one of those Top-10 projects and we feel it is critically important to reconnect the public to the waterfront," Haider added.

PennPraxis will present its guidelines to the City Planning Commission April 21.

"This step will help give it the political step it needs to support planning, design and implementation," Steinberg said.

But before the development, the plan received input from residents.

"We went out to the neighborhood and we basically asked, ‘What do you want in your neighborhood on the river?’ Almost universally everybody wanted a safe place to be," CDAG Chairman Steven Weixler said. "Everybody wanted their neighborhood to come to the river."

Bob H., who declined to give his last name, is not as optimistic. The resident of Second and Reed streets rides his bike every day to Center City and back and wonders if the plan will live up to expectations.

"The City does it like they do everything else. New Market [Second and Market streets] is a dud. Penn’s Landing is horrible … It’s a good idea if they do it. The City never seems to do anything right."

On the other hand, Bunny Clark, of Second and Dickinson streets, is pleased with what she has seen.

"I think it’s a good thing. There is somewhat of a bike trail on Columbus Boulevard, but you’re taking your life in your hands," she said.

Casinos added another layer to the trail’s development, Weixler said.

"Basically the texture of a Philadelphia neighborhood — the scale of the size of the blocks — was very important," he said. "We felt whatever happens, we should respect that. Other than that, we didn’t get involved whether it would be a casino or a shopping center … Now the casinos that were proposed were much too big to be friendly to pedestrians walking beside them."

Zoning has been an obstacle since the trail will cross various properties and Penn’s Landing is the only city-owned portion of the scheduled route. Legislation was introduced at the March 5 City Council meeting, but has yet to be passed, Abernathy said.

If approved, it will set up the "Central Delaware Riverfront Overlay District" that runs east of Interstate 95 to the river and from Allegheny to Oregon, regulating construction and promoting access to the river, according to the bill. Another major problem to be addressed is traffic along Columbus.

"You need to be able to cross Columbus Boulevard with your kids in tow in one light’s distance without having to run to beat traffic," Weixler said.

One option is to include an island between opposing traffic to allow pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic with each red light, he said.

Greenery and a trail for running and walking is the vision anticipated at Pier 70 after PennPraxis’ 10-year Action Plan for the Central Delaware is completed. Artist’s Rendering courtesy of PennPraxis

The economic impact of the Schuylkill trail shows a $170 million investment will yield $2.4 billion in private investment within the next five to 10 years, according to the action plan.

"We have the river," Weixler said. "We will eventually have wonderful development of different sizes all along the river tailored for different users — a place for kids, a shady park that you can just sit in and watch the river."

The revitalized east side could have an economic impact on the whole of Philadelphia, Phil Randazzo, of Moyamensing Avenue and Gerritt Street, said.

"It’ll be a Kelly Drive on the other side of the city," the resident said, adding he visits the riverfront drive once a week for recreation. "I live right around the block, so it would be easier to go there."