Navy Yard, Broad St Line, and more. (Philadelphia, Reading: hotels, transfer to)

[jasomm]

It looks like there is some significant construction going on down at the Navy Yard, and I was wondering if anyone knows what the current work is. It looks like they are constructing the proposed "Diagonal Blvd" and maybe some new buildings along it. Does anyone know details?

If they are constructing that new road, are they also building (or preparing to build) the Broad Street Line Extension underneath it? This seems like the obvious place to have an extension of the line run, but it doesn't look like they are doing anything with it now. I would hate to see the opportunity go to waste.

...

On that topic I wanted to through some ideas out there and see what people think.

This is the proposed plan for the Navy Yard from 2004 which has a very suburban sprawl feel to it in my opinion. With lots of parking lots, segregated land uses, and huge warehouse/office uses.



I've been thinking about this, and playing around with some ideas of my own which build off the existing development, and use some of their plan. However I tried to give it more of a Philly neighborhood feel.



You can see the concept with the red and blue guild-lines, where It is essentially continuing the Philly grid into the Navy Yard area. My thinking being that this will make addition street connections in the future easier, and integrate the new neighborhood into the rest of the city if/when the I-95 barrier changes, or goes away.

If they do extend the Broad Street Line along the new "Diagonal Blvd" it would look something like this.



This also shows my concept for the southern section of the Delaware/Columbus Blvd Light Rail Line proposed in the Delaware Riverfront Master Plan.

This Neighborhood would center around the existing Seaplane Hanger, which I think could be converted into a sort-of Reading Terminal Market-South overlooking a Marina, and associated tourist/commercial development like this.

... a little Google Earth meets SimCity

White = Marina/hotel/conference center etc.
Orange = Mixed use
Blue = Office
Yellow = Residential (various types)
(I have revised and adjusted the since setting up the buildings which is why they dont align further inland, but you get the idea. Ill fix this eventually)

What do you think? is this a better plan than the 2004 plan? Is it feasible over the next 10-30 years? would you want to visit or live in this place?

anyone know if the 2004 plan is gospel, or could it be amended or rejected at this point?

[jasomm]

Here is another angle showing another public space (developed later) centered around a new city square.



Im missing some buildings in the center here between Front ans Swanson, so ignore that section.

The mixed use and residential section beyond the square I kind of modeled after the Piazza at Schmidt's

[jtom605]

If the subway does get an extension, it better be towards the Northeast. I understand that there is relatively new development around the Navy Yard, but the station by the stadiums is really not that far away. As far as public transportation in the Northeast, all roads lead to Bridge and Pratt or Fern Rock. For the Navy Yard, all SEPTA needs to do is run a bus that stops at the stadiums. Either way, I doubt the the subway or el will see an extension anytime soon.

[jasomm]

The Philly 2035 plan calls for an elevated line along Roosevelt Blvd meeting up with the Broad Street line somewhere. (I guess a transfer from Hunting Park Station?). It could looks something like parts of the Metro extension in DC out to Dulles Airport.

Like this


I show here an alternative of having a regional rail line break off of the Atlantic City line and meet up with Roosevelt Blvd at Adams Ave, which might be a preferable commute for most NE-ers (no transfer to Broad St at Hunting Park), and a direct link to 30th Street station (Suburban?, Market East?)

I suppose they could also try extending Market-Frankford up Bustelton to meet a Roosevelt Blvd section, but I dont think I've seen that proposed anywhere.


Ignore the think White line... its an alignment for a High Speed intercity line Im playing with)

[pman]

the 2004 plan is dead. the land for the "marina" district has been sold off for a port expansion. if there is a navy yard extension it will probably be cut back one stop

[jasomm]

Dead? So the City planning board never accepted or approved the 2004 plan as official?

Or do you just mean, implementation progress is halted?

[pman]

Originally Posted by jasomm

Dead? So the City planning board never accepted or approved the 2004 plan as official?

Or do you just mean, implementation progress is halted?

no idea what was "official" for the planners built it's dead as in the port already owns the land afaik, a compromise between competing interests in the navy yard. in part it's due to the fact the land is so close to the airports, the FAA has special requirements for sound proofing, making residential expensive...given the water table issues, building up also isn't an option...so even if the developers successfully fought off the port interests, there's be limited residential value.

[soug]

Originally Posted by jtom605

For the Navy Yard, all SEPTA needs to do is run a bus that stops at the stadiums.

There is already a bus, but it is kind of inconvenient and annoying. A lot of people that work down there actually decide to drive instead of taking the subway solely because of this (and because there is abundant and free parking). On the other hand, a lot of the yuppie types that work at Urban like to bike, but as much as I like biking, that's not something I would want to do on Broad Street.



OP, awesome mockups. I do think that there may be too many streets in your plan though. The area is relatively small, so you should be able to cut out several of those streets and still have a very walkable and human-scale environment.

[jasomm]

Thanks,
But the more I revisit the original 2004 plan, and look at issues pman points out (water table, flood plain, airport flight paths) it really seems like a non-starter down there for any kind of residence. Unfortunate.

My layout had so many streets because I was extending the Philly grid pattern (using its dimensions) to the area so that it would jive with the rest of the city eventually (50-100s of years) since the grid has a longer life span than the individual land uses (I-95, sports complexes, industrial, etc).

Certain hurdles could be overcome, like the floodplain issues, or current ownership, etc. But the flight line leading int PHL is the killer. You really have no way of building residential areas,and expect any outdoor experience 2.5 miles directly in front of the runway. Planes are coming in for landings at a continuous rate (2-5 minutes). I haven't been down to the Navy Yard for a while, or with it in mind to observe this, so maybe its not as bad as Im imagining, since the 2004 plan never bothered to mention this. Its really a shame, having a blank slate of that size in an established urban setting is a unique opportunity to build something great.

My original thought was....
Have a concept for completed and optimized neighborhood, that becomes an extension of Philadelphia-proper...
Then cherry pick segments of the plan that could be constructed, first, as parts of an Olympic Village. That way you get all sorts of interest in the area, and investments from all around the country to see to its success, and kick start the creation of the neighborhood and subsidize things like the Broad street extension, light rail segment, hotels, infrastructure, etc... Tie Roosevelt Park, the stadiums, and the Navy Yard into the 2024 Olympic Village, transition into a 250th national anniversary exposition (2026), and then continue development into a new sustained community. But it seems like the air traffic could really put a stop to proceeding any further, if its as bad as I imagine.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by jasomm

The Philly 2035 plan calls for an elevated line along Roosevelt Blvd meeting up with the Broad Street line somewhere. (I guess a transfer from Hunting Park Station?).

The options included at-grade light rail, at-grade BRT, subway with flyovers or subway running in a cut.

The BRT and LRT options required a transfer at Hunting Park which limited ridership . . . the preferred local alternative was subway in a cut that connected with the BSL at Hunting Park and ran to Walnut-Locust on the express tracks.

Projected ridership for that line on opening day is bigger than the El