RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPiTER

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway: redux

I recently browsed over to planphilly.com and read Thomas J. Walsh’s article on how to fix the Ben Franklin Parkway. In case you haven’t noticed, the road has never really lived up to its full potential. Like the waterfront or east Market street it just sort of sits there waiting for greatness. While Walsh’s article is full of nice, modest ideas, he doesn’t go nearly far enough.

If done right, the Parkway has the potential to transform the city. It borders everything from City Hall to Fairmount Park. It’s surrounded by busy and vibrant neighborhoods. It’s lined with world-class museums. And right now, it’s basically a highway. If I was an omnipotent city planner and I had a billion or so dollars to play around with, here’s how I’d fix it.

1. I don’t care who makes noise and how much noise they make. First and foremost, I’m closing the center of the Parkway to vehicular traffic from Logan Circle to Eakins Oval. People can drive on the Philadelphia-sized 2-lane streets that abut northern and southern borders of the new grand pedestrian mall.

In addition to closing the midsection of the road, I’m tearing up the asphalt and putting in a wide path lined with gardens and outdoor vendors. Artists, musicians, performers and food trucks will be encouraged to descend on the space. There will be benches, stages and public plazas. There can be bike lanes and bike rentals. People can rent a cruiser near the Franklin Institute, pedal the Parkway and Kelly Drive, go to a museum or 2, grab some food/drink and call it a day.

Why do this? There will never be street life on what’s now basically a 6-lane highway with 2, 2-lane roads on either side. Traffic absolutely has to be secondary to the Parkway’s purpose. Think of what it could be. Think of something like la Rambla in Barcelona… only bigger.

2. All in all though, I’m not completely deaf to the needs of commuters. And we also need a quick, fast and easy way for people to get to the Art Museum and this grand new space. That’s why I’d take the old rail bed that runs under Pennsylvania Ave. and turn it into a subway. The infrastructure for a new line is largely in place. Making the Art Museum easily accessible would benefit everyone. I discussed this (with pictures and diagrams) here.

3. Move the Youth Prison out and move in the Barnes. No offense to Youth Prisons or prisoners, but a looming kid-jail can be a real drain on the festivities.

4. Bury the parking lot at Eakins Oval and turn it into a park / plaza.

5. Keep some of the green space that lines the Parkway, but also encourage residential and commercial development.

6. Drop a MOVE style bomb on the Philadelphian and let that beast burn to the ground.

Actually that last one isn’t really essential. But the rest is…

This city has the population and the ability to sustain a grand public boulevard. If the Parkway were designed according to these plans, the throngs of people that clog up Kelly Drive would bleed into it. The throngs of people that run up and down the art museum steps all day would bleed into it. The throngs of people that live and work in Fairmount and center city would bleed into it. And aside from all this, people that don’t go to any of these places would be drawn to the beautiful new space. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is empty by design. It’s time for a radical redesign.