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I'm creating this thread to avoid going way off topic in the skyscraper thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyb01
The bike lanes are on the outer drives. No trucks at all are allowed on the Pkwy. The Flash shuttle service and the Septa Rt 38 already runs on the Pkwy outer drives. All the sidewalks were replaced when the Barnes was built.
I'm pretty sure the Flash runs all year round. So do you mean more service? There are oodles of events on the western end of the Pkwy at the Art Museum. Just about every weekend especially during the summer and early fall. So there are usually people besides the Rocky tourists.
The "places for more people" are adjacent to the Pkwy along Callowhill/Pennsylvania Ave/Hamilton St. Restaurants between 19th and 20th. Target in the old Whole Foods space and the new Whole Foods between 21st and 22nd. All of those are busy.
Dilworth Park winterfest by contrast is even better than it was last year, imo. Love Park is a contruction site... it was dumb to put the booths there.
The outer drives (as you properly called them), are more lanes of traffic that we should not be encouraging. It's ridiculous IMO. And the sidewalks are fine, no need to make changes.
Re: Service - Public transit sucks on the parkway. 38 is WAY too infrequent to rely on. And the Flash is for tourists. We should have reliable, frequent SEPTA service cutting down the parkway that can serve everyone. The full length of the parkway with easy jump on/off-like service. The 38 can still cut through (or maybe it should be re-routed to expedite coming from West Philly into downtown quicker), but people trying to traverse the lengthy, trafficky parkway would be much happier, I'm sure.
The Barnes and the Rodin museums are definitely the best places for people on the parkway. And it's nice walking along the mature trees. But there is so much missed opportunity. The segment between the Rodin and the PMA is a long walk with little value IMO. Baseball fields sit there like something out of a suburban setting. Rather, there should be more places like cafes and like. And yes, 19th and 20th have more of these types of amenities, but they sit off the parkway behind other structures. Don't even get me started on Eakins Oval. oy vey
Here are some of my realistic and unrealistic improvements for the CC area.
Realistic:
1. Make Market St an East/ West Street the whole length of CC.
2. Take out a lane on JFK and make it an aesthetically appealing bike lane.
3. Insert a median on Broad St that has grass and landscaping (see Park Ave in NYC). Remove parking in the median, and those light poles on North Broad.
4. Add another landscaped median on Market St for the entire length of CC.
5. Add some life to Thomas Paine Plaza and Penn Center Plaza at 15th and Market. Landscaping, cafes, etc.
6. Repair all of the bridges between CC and West Philly and add nighttime lighting. Also repair/ or cover the 76 opening along the Schuylkill River across from the trail.
7. Identical and update traffic poles and light poles on all major streets. (It seems silly, but its those kinds of small improvements that make a huge difference).
Unrealistic:
1. Cap the Vine and install a park on top of it.
2. Remove all of the baseball/ playing fields on the Parkway and replace them with apartment/ condos/ hotels/ museums with ground level cafes, restaurants and high-end retail. That entire length of the Parkway should be dense and developed with perfect landscaping. There are too many missing links currently.
3. Do the same for the space in front of Park Town Place, but make it low-rise.
4. Get rid of Logan Circle (creating a square) making the Parkway continuous, and add dense development on all sides as a grand entryway to the Parkway.
5. Cap the train tracks on the North side of JFK and build high-rises along that whole stretch with restaurants and high-end retail, maybe a department store or 2.
6. Develop all of the vacant lots on Western Market with with the same mix as I mentioned above and create some sort of grand entryway into CC.
7. Extend dense development very far North and South on Broad St even if comes at the expense of losing some older buildings.
8. Develop a retail and dining promenade along the Eastern half of North Independence Mall (basically all the space directly across from Hotel Monaco and the Jewish Museum). Its wasted underutilized space.
9. A complete overhaul of Penn Center at 15th and Market, whether it be tearing down those 2 buildings, adding floors on top of them, add a glassy structure attached to the buildings filled with food, bars, and retail, etc. The space is too open and barren, the buildings are ugly and short.
10. Cap/ bury I-95 from Washington Ave to at least the Ben Franklin Bridge.
11. Add more pedestrian crossings and traffic lights to Columbus Blvd/ Delaware Ave to slow traffic.
12. Tear down all strip mall shopping centers along the Delaware River and replace them with mid/ high-rise mixed use towers and ground floor retail.
I'm allowed to dream I will add more ideas as they come to me.
Here's a crazy idea that probably won't happen but would be awesome. Have a light rail that starts at Penns Landing follows the middle of Columbus Boulevard up to race street. There it turns underground and makes stops at 5th street (Independence hall/constitution center), 10th street (Chinatown/Reading Terminal), Connect to Race-vine station (Have this one go below the platform of the regular BSL, then a stop for Logan Circle and surrounding institutions, The use the City Branch tunnel for an art museum stop, The area by the tracks next to the freight line is definitely wide enough for at least one more track maybe two, then have it connect to the 15 trolley tracks up to the zoo, Then re use the tracks that are currently unused that go up Parkside Avenue down 41st and loop back. I know there is some issue with compatible track width for the Columbus Boulevard but take those tracks out and put in better ones but use that right of way.
An argument could be made as well to have it split on Girard into two lines that and one that goes up 33rd to give Brewerytown and Strawberry mansion better city access.
Furthermore closer the outer drive on the NE side keep the bike lane and turn that area into a public space for festivals and street vendors and cafes and restaurants. Bike lane should also have room for emergency vehicle access
As well there should be a cross walk from the westernmost corner of the baseball fields to Eakins Oval and another crosswalk and light from the center of Eakins Oval to the Art Museum.
The fee for this light rail will be same as regular Septa with free interchange at Race Vine, this will give access to other users from the rest of the city so it is more than a tourist line. Also isn't there an abandoned concourse from city hall to race vine or am I imagining something. That could give access to the El users and even regional rail from Suburban Station
Washington Ave (bike protected or semi protected) and some form of BRT
DE Ave some form of protected BRT and better/improved bike lanes
25th street - bike and BRT lanes under the viaduct
Parkway (close outer lane on weekends to pedestrians, bikes and maybe BRT)
JFK (protected bike lane to city hall two way)
Continue this ROW use of CC blvd tracks from Penn's Landing/SSHP down the boulevard, past all the big-box strip malls, through to the stadiums when it turns into Pattinson Ave, somehow make a left at Broad to go to the Navy Yard, then cross the narrow channel going west to continue on to the airport and then looping back to 30th st station via the Airport line.
The thing that is the most discouraging and encouraging at the same time is that a ton of funding isn't needed to make some of these changes. Buses with ROW on the Ben Franklin Parkway could be completed with signs, plastic markers for the bike lane, some benches, and active policing. Operationally, the buses would be needed and so would the drivers, but the ROI on that would probably be solid due to ridership.
Columbus Blvd could use the tracks (or at least the space where the tracks exist) to run buses/vessels down the center. Compared to new rail lines, that's way cheaper.
I'm creating this thread to avoid going way off topic in the skyscraper thread.
The outer drives (as you properly called them), are more lanes of traffic that we should not be encouraging. It's ridiculous IMO. And the sidewalks are fine, no need to make changes.
Re: Service - Public transit sucks on the parkway. 38 is WAY too infrequent to rely on. And the Flash is for tourists. We should have reliable, frequent SEPTA service cutting down the parkway that can serve everyone. The full length of the parkway with easy jump on/off-like service. The 38 can still cut through (or maybe it should be re-routed to expedite coming from West Philly into downtown quicker), but people trying to traverse the lengthy, trafficky parkway would be much happier, I'm sure.
The Barnes and the Rodin museums are definitely the best places for people on the parkway. And it's nice walking along the mature trees. But there is so much missed opportunity. The segment between the Rodin and the PMA is a long walk with little value IMO. Baseball fields sit there like something out of a suburban setting. Rather, there should be more places like cafes and like. And yes, 19th and 20th have more of these types of amenities, but they sit off the parkway behind other structures. Don't even get me started on Eakins Oval. oy vey
There was a very substantial plan to do some of the things you suggest especially eateries years ago. If Market El reads this maybe he can look in some archive for it.
Once upon a time another museum, devoted to the three generation Calder artists was to be built at the se corner of 22nd and the Pkwy. Their descendants screwed that up so that never happened. That would have created a certain amount of balance that's missing.
I agree about more frequent 38 service especially to the Art Museum.
Cpomp will chime in about hating the baseball/ playground combo too. It's not going anywhere. Fairmounters will fight anything about changing it.
Here are some of my realistic and unrealistic improvements for the CC area.
Realistic:
1. Make Market St an East/ West Street the whole length of CC.
2. Take out a lane on JFK and make it an aesthetically appealing bike lane.
3. Insert a median on Broad St that has grass and landscaping (see Park Ave in NYC). Remove parking in the median, and those light poles on North Broad.
4. Add another landscaped median on Market St for the entire length of CC.
5. Add some life to Thomas Paine Plaza and Penn Center Plaza at 15th and Market. Landscaping, cafes, etc.
6. Repair all of the bridges between CC and West Philly and add nighttime lighting. Also repair/ or cover the 76 opening along the Schuylkill River across from the trail.
7. Identical and update traffic poles and light poles on all major streets. (It seems silly, but its those kinds of small improvements that make a huge difference).
Unrealistic:
1. Cap the Vine and install a park on top of it.
2. Remove all of the baseball/ playing fields on the Parkway and replace them with apartment/ condos/ hotels/ museums with ground level cafes, restaurants and high-end retail. That entire length of the Parkway should be dense and developed with perfect landscaping. There are too many missing links currently.
3. Do the same for the space in front of Park Town Place, but make it low-rise.
4. Get rid of Logan Circle (creating a square) making the Parkway continuous, and add dense development on all sides as a grand entryway to the Parkway.
5. Cap the train tracks on the North side of JFK and build high-rises along that whole stretch with restaurants and high-end retail, maybe a department store or 2.
6. Develop all of the vacant lots on Western Market with with the same mix as I mentioned above and create some sort of grand entryway into CC.
7. Extend dense development very far North and South on Broad St even if comes at the expense of losing some older buildings.
8. Develop a retail and dining promenade along the Eastern half of North Independence Mall (basically all the space directly across from Hotel Monaco and the Jewish Museum). Its wasted underutilized space.
9. A complete overhaul of Penn Center at 15th and Market, whether it be tearing down those 2 buildings, adding floors on top of them, add a glassy structure attached to the buildings filled with food, bars, and retail, etc. The space is too open and barren, the buildings are ugly and short.
10. Cap/ bury I-95 from Washington Ave to at least the Ben Franklin Bridge.
11. Add more pedestrian crossings and traffic lights to Columbus Blvd/ Delaware Ave to slow traffic.
12. Tear down all strip mall shopping centers along the Delaware River and replace them with mid/ high-rise mixed use towers and ground floor retail.
I'm allowed to dream I will add more ideas as they come to me.
Dream away. Now, get busy and create the political will among your age peers to achieve some of this.
One note. Park Towne Place is on the National Registry of Historic Places so some exterior changes are not possible without extensive review
Here's a crazy idea that probably won't happen but would be awesome. Have a light rail that starts at Penns Landing follows the middle of Columbus Boulevard up to race street. There it turns underground and makes stops at 5th street (Independence hall/constitution center), 10th street (Chinatown/Reading Terminal), Connect to Race-vine station (Have this one go below the platform of the regular BSL, then a stop for Logan Circle and surrounding institutions, The use the City Branch tunnel for an art museum stop, The area by the tracks next to the freight line is definitely wide enough for at least one more track maybe two, then have it connect to the 15 trolley tracks up to the zoo, Then re use the tracks that are currently unused that go up Parkside Avenue down 41st and loop back. I know there is some issue with compatible track width for the Columbus Boulevard but take those tracks out and put in better ones but use that right of way.
An argument could be made as well to have it split on Girard into two lines that and one that goes up 33rd to give Brewerytown and Strawberry mansion better city access.
Furthermore closer the outer drive on the NE side keep the bike lane and turn that area into a public space for festivals and street vendors and cafes and restaurants. Bike lane should also have room for emergency vehicle access
As well there should be a cross walk from the westernmost corner of the baseball fields to Eakins Oval and another crosswalk and light from the center of Eakins Oval to the Art Museum.
The fee for this light rail will be same as regular Septa with free interchange at Race Vine, this will give access to other users from the rest of the city so it is more than a tourist line. Also isn't there an abandoned concourse from city hall to race vine or am I imagining something. That could give access to the El users and even regional rail from Suburban Station
What you are pretty much describing is the, sadly killed, Schuylkill Valley Metro light rail which was supposed to run from CC to KoP.
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I will add more ideas as they come to me.
