[dovate.com] » Philly needs a new subway line, here are the plans (illustrated)
Philly needs a new subway line, here are the plans (illustrated)
Problem 1: The Parkway, the Art Museum Area and Fairmount are poorly served by public transportation. I know, of course that huge swaths of the city are poorly served by an organization which at its best serves poorly – but for the areas mentioned, there seems to be a solution. Which brings us to problem 2.
Problem 2: The abandoned rail line, starting at the abandoned Reading Viaduct near 11th and Vine and ending under Pennsylvania Avenue a few blocks past the art museum. Most of which sits either recessed below or completely under the street. The dead line blights everything around it.
So what’s the plan? If you haven’t figured it out yet, my idea is to build a new subway line from Broad Street and Callowhill/Spring Garden, running west to Pennsylvania Ave. and then following a parallel path to the Parkway to the Art Museum. The tunnel ends roughly at that point, but ideally I’d love to see the line continue on along the eastern edge of Fairmount Park, past Laurel Hill cemetery and through Strawberry Mansion, before meeting up with Ridge Avenue and running straight into Manayunk.
But for now, that’s just crazy. The Parkway plan is actually feasible. Half the construction is already done. It’s really just a matter of acquiring the land, the proper usage rights, squaring it with the neighbors, finding funding… and a million other impossible obstacles. But a city of the size and scale of Philadelphia should be able to pull off the impossible from time to time. And anyway, we’re not talking the big dig here, we’re talking about slapping a couple miles of track down on an existing rail bed and throwing up some stations. Besides that, a city of the size and scale of Philadelphia should boast a stellar world-class public transit system.
Philadelphia’s subway system is pathetic. The Broad street line, runs directly north/south; from the stadiums to Fern Rock station. The Market/Frankford el runs east/west, turning north as it hits the eastern edge of the city. To give you a better idea, here’s what it looks like in center city:
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A subway starting at the Inquirer building on North Broad Street could take advantage of this existing abandoned and overgrown rail bed.
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At 19th street, the rail line heads completely underground, running parallel to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway:
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The tunnels run underneath Pennsylvania Avenue, a large and heavily trafficked road. They are stable and safe.
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To serve the public and to bring Philadelphia to the level of New York, Washington D.C. London, Paris or (at least in the realm of public transportation) we need to expand our subway system. With much of the infrastructure already in place along the abandoned, recessed rail line between the Reading Viaduct and the Art Museum, a subway line here would serve a neglected and enormously important section of the city. With several world-class museums, (with more on the horizon) parades, festivals, concerts, fireworks, old condos, new condos, planned condos as well as an existing existing neighborhood along or near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, building a new line here just makes sense.
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4 Comments
1. Chad DeVinney replies at 11th November 2007, 9:22 pm :
Could you make it a subway-surface line? Then it would be easier to extend because you could run streetcars instead of an elevated track or whatever. It would also be more attractive for riders and neighbors.
2. kevin riordan replies at 11th April 2008, 11:52 am :
a mass transit line is a great idea - just the sort of bold thinking that’s long been lacking in philadelphia. of course there are issues - such as where and how to best interchange with the broad street subway (could parkway trains originate in the city hall concourse area?) also, i believe there are partial/unused tunnels and subterranean infrastructure around arch street. and from a historical perspective, one reason philadelphia lacks an extensive subway network (although there were at one time plans for a chestnut street line) is that the streetcar system and competing reading and pennsy heavy-rail lines served some of the demand that might otherwise have generated public support for more subway lines.
3. steve replies at 11th April 2008, 11:57 am :
From what I’ve heard, some plans were floated in the very early 20th century… 1905 or so, to build lines that followed the oldest roads in the city: Ridge, Germantown, Passyunk and Lancaster Avenues… to name a few. This was the same time NY was developing their subway. As has become a pattern, they did it and we can only imagine what might have been.
4. steve replies at 11th April 2008, 12:08 pm :
Hey now that I’m looking at that map again, why not take the line east of Broad near Callowhill and follow the route of the old trestle that merges with the Reading Viaduct near 12th and Vine. The line could extend from there and do what the old railroads used to which is start/finish right at Market East. With it being the convention district and only a couple blocks from the city hall hub, it would work out great. It could even help revitalize east Market.
Then of course, you could clean up the viaduct itself and turn it into an elevated public park, like the ones already in place in Paris and New York. And while were at it 676 can be capped, the Eagles can win the superbowl and we can re-grow the garden of eden up in Fairmount Park.
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