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hdhcnsnd t1_jacl9rg wrote

Great news. Now cap the rest lol.

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Phl_worldwide t1_jaclk7k wrote

Amazing news. I went to Montreal last summer and their riverfront was a lot like ours, but it was bustling and mainly because it was easy to walk from the old city to the river. I look forward to this being done!

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courageous_liquid t1_jacmvuf wrote

I think I did the data collection and analysis for rerouting traffic during staging/construction like 6 years ago at this point. This project is massive because it touches 95 and people don't realize it.

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MonteCristo_nomayo t1_jacn99j wrote

Perpetual construction. I’m sure this is going to take at least a decade

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Cinnamon_Flavored t1_jacnh6o wrote

This project is going to be a mess.

Source: Guy who was pricing up major portions of this project.

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Away_Swimming_5757 t1_jacoq4c wrote

11.5 acre park, leading right into all the northern waterfront developments that are emerging and all the recently rennovated and recently established fun of Spruce Harbor park, leading directly into Olde City and Market St is going to be such an awesome change. Night time along the waterfront is going to way more dynamic.

EDIT:

Here is a comment I made previously that adds more perspective into what the delaware ave projects are shaping up to be:

Delaware Ave and the waterfront are going to be very different by the end of this decade. Here's other in-progress or planned things, starting from North and moving southward:

Graffiti Pier Park

Northbank Phase 2 (Phase 1 is nearly complete with over 150 homes already lived within)

PECO Substation next to Penn Treaty Park turned into residential units

The site next to the casino

The site across from Club ROAR and the brewery right before Spring Garden

The old festival pier location having 1,300+ units and a waterfront park

The two projects across from festival pier's former site also making steady progress

The capping of I-95 and the 11.5 acre park being built upon it to replace Penn's Landing

All of this waterfront will be connected by the recently rennovated Delaware River Trail (which will extends through Northbank and into Graffiti Pier and may even extend further north as time goes on)

Spruce Harbor park enhancements

The site that is the 1-story Comcast facility is being sold and turned into some type of dense project

The Giant just finished construction in S Columbus

There's supposed to be some type of South Philly version of Northbank proposed for that area near the Walmart trail as well

^ That's a lot of foot traffic from over 3,000 new households alone, not to mention the attract it will draw from nearby Spring Garden, Fishtown (and the American Ave cooridoor that is massively building up, Northern Liberties and Olde City and disposable income being injected into the waterfront. We may see a whole new comercial cooridoor full of things to do at night time, more walkability/ quality of life improvements, more recreational open public spaces and new night life scenes. This will be a major tourism hub and will generate a lot of tax revenue and will be a key part of "things to do in philly".

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evolighten t1_jacq0cd wrote

How long do we think a project like this will take?

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jedilips t1_jacsd9k wrote

It will take 5 years to finish this, then another 5 to fix the shoddy work the construction teams do because why do it right first time when the city is more than willing to pay you to do it twice?

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all4whatnot t1_jacsysg wrote

Does Old City sit much higher in elevation than Penn's Landing? I guess they'll have to terrace or make these parks sloped somehow to connect everything up.

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Blewedup t1_jact5a2 wrote

Replying to MongolianCluster (#2,104,695)

i hope it's a step towards burying the whole damn thing, ala the big dig in boston.

everyone complained about the pain of construction, the cost, etc. but the results are permanent and the benefits will last a hundred years.

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Blewedup t1_jactely wrote

Replying to courageous_liquid (#2,104,606)

i know it's a big project, which is why i say just build it already. i've seen too many big projects explode in cost as they sit and wait, if only due to inflation. political changes come and projects die.

just build it already. and i'm saying that because of the complexity, not because i don't understand the complexity.

i'd rather have something that is five years overschedule and billions over cost but is eventually complete than nothing at all.

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GooFoYouPal t1_jactzfg wrote

2031 - Mayor Gym presents Equity Park at the Waterfront.

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bierdimpfe t1_jacwli9 wrote

We'll break ground right before the world cup, all star game, and 250th

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Yolo_420_69 t1_jacwsmq wrote

Fucking finally. Only downside is more mysterious drips on your car on 95. For us motorcyclist.... Ew

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rawdealbuffy t1_jacybf8 wrote

Replying to Phl_worldwide (#2,103,613)

Interesting observation. I guess there is a lot of overlap. Montrealers avoid the Vieux Port like the plague but it is nice to walk around in as a visitor. I guess the main difference is this will actually be useful to residents but mainly those that can afford to live in the new developments.

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BKachur t1_jacywfi wrote

Replying to Blewedup (#2,106,161)

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the project and always felt like Penns landing had a lot of wasted potential. Just more a comment on how abysmally long it takes the city to finish any project. Felt like city hall was under construction for a continuous decade.

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vmtyler t1_jad77wc wrote

This is better than what’s there now but the real solution is to take the highway out completely.

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tito1490 t1_jad7oxg wrote

Where exactly (between what E/W streets) is this planned for? EDIT: CBS Reporting Chestnut to Walnut. I was hoping it would extend to Market.

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mbash013 t1_jad89xj wrote

Replying to secretlypooping (#2,104,478)

Oh man. A vine st expressway cap would be awesome. After living in Boston post big-dig (I know this was an engineering nightmare for everyone involved while it happened) the green space that it created was awesome. Over a mile of unique parks in a nice long green space that allowed for an enjoyable walk through that portion of the city.

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linkdudesmash t1_jad9b69 wrote

From a security aspect this is a horrible idea

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all4whatnot t1_jaddvd3 wrote

Replying to a-german-muffin (#2,107,710)

So this is the answer. Most people don't know (because we're not 300 years old) but that's how the city originally looked along the waterfront. This project has been simply billed as "putting a roof on I-95" for a while, but there's still the matter of making a nice seamless connection between the city and the waterfront. Or else the project is a waste.

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DoctorSteve t1_jadfpit wrote

Replying to Blewedup (#2,106,104)

None of us are getting younger. This project might take a decade to finish. I want every project to start construction sooner so I have more time to enjoy it.

No one should want to delay construction on anything. Delaying just means it can be cancelled or never constructed. The rapid, rapid development in the suburbs means houses are being built faster than infrastructure can be built out. There's no room for more highways, train avenues, or even freaking grid planning. Just buy whatever land you can and put townhouses on it.

My rant is - we need stronger construction control from the government and a larger, more active infrastructure plan. We need to start spending billions on our roads. The 476 to 95 expansion plan needs to begin today as well.

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DoctorSteve t1_jadgak4 wrote

That cap looks too small. Make it bigger.

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bit99 t1_jadjd71 wrote

Replying to Sybertron (#2,108,763)

if they do ALL of 676 technically that's a tunnel and much higher standard of build than a cap. They have to leave gaps in between for airflow etc for it to be a cap. But yeah. Do that.

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Pfizer-Gang t1_jadoy4a wrote

When this is done, we move onto capping the vine street expressway!

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a_stone_throne t1_jadr480 wrote

Gee if only we had 10 square miles if unkept parks already existing In The city. With trolly tracks already laid. Imagine that.

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ACY0422 t1_jadv6tm wrote

In early 70s Frank Rizzo as mayor had the cover removed from the I-95 design because the fresh air system to feed 95 was going to a million dollars to maintain each year. So in 2023 dollars that is about $3 million. I don’t see any mention of fresh air in this proposal

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Grumpicake t1_jae08q7 wrote

Meanwhile PennDOT in Harrisburg. “What if we tolled people to cross every major bridge?” Please end my suffering 🙃

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BigShawn424 t1_jae2b65 wrote

Btw this means the 4 bus routes that layover at penns landing will now has nowhere to go and will likely be cut at 5th and market or something.

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Away_Swimming_5757 t1_jae9k08 wrote

Replying to electric_creamsicle (#2,122,821)

There's a building between Penn Treaty Park and on the northern side of the casino. It was in a weird financial limbo for a few years, then it magically burnt down and has been just the early stage concrete foundation/ supporting structures remaining, but it was purchased by a new developer in 2022 and there is some plan to make some type of density-style development on that lot (I think it was like 190 units or something)... there is also another development right on the southern side of the casino that I think is recently broke ground as well. South, north and across the street from the Casino are a handful of projects currently going up or soon to begin going up.

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Away_Swimming_5757 t1_jaec8do wrote

Replying to electric_creamsicle (#2,123,171)

It will be unlikely to see much capping of 95 around that side since the 95 is at the roof height of the surrounding neighborhood, but they did a bunch of rennovations under the 95 which is technically a "walking trail". I've walked it dozens of times since it finished a few months ago and its actually pretty nice during the day, but at night time its pretty uncomfortable and doesn't feel safe (although there is a lot of lighting which is a major enhancement). Right across the street there is a construction material warehouse that is up for sale (according to the sign above it) and directly behind it is the entire Northbank Phase 1 construction site (nearly complete) which just started up phase 2. Once phase 2 completes and the streets are paved, the Delaware River Trail from Penn Treaty via Dyott St (the road full of potholes immediately north of Penn Treaty) into Northbank and directly onto Graffitti Pier's trail (which is planned to be a managed park).

If you haven't been back in Northbank, go take a walk and see how much has changed. The entire phase 1 waterfront section is publicly accessible and has a great view. It's shaping up really nice

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USSBigBooty t1_jaefee4 wrote

Replying to DrJawn (#2,104,683)

I'm bidding for the contract. I propose to build it entirely out of douglas fur 2x4's. I can have it done in 3-4 weeks depending on the nations available supply of contractors, redbull, strippers and cocaine.

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BearBong t1_jaejm7n wrote

Replying to avo_cado (#2,103,468)

Hijacking top comment here to share the Traffic Pattern Changes custom Google Map that I made when this news hit last Spring. I couldn't find any article that showed it on a damn map.

Here's the article that I referenced (and second) for the traffic info.

Unsure if these are still the planned routing but figured I'd share bc I was looking at buying a place and wondered what streets would get extra traffic. But here I sit in my rented spot, hoping this is of value to other Philly fam

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Finger_Gunnz t1_jaenwy4 wrote

Can we fully finish 95 around Cottman exit before we fuck around on another stretch of it?

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Papancasudani t1_jaepk0w wrote

Because I love to inhale the exhaust of an interstate highway while frolicking in the park.

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I_divided_by_0- t1_jaeu7l6 wrote

Good bye ice skating rink I suppose.

But worth it IMO

Unless the graphic is wrong, they are showing Pier 3 and Pier 5 as high rises.

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petedogg t1_jaevowx wrote

Replying to RainbowCrown71 (#2,120,273)

They’re both good! I grew up in Chicago and while I enjoyed Taste of Chicago and the Air and Water Show, there’s a different vibe to Montreal’s festivals. Also what Montreal’s done with making outdoor dining (known as terrasses there) a part of their culture along with transforming their streets to be far less car oriented are things Chicago hasn’t done as much that we should do here in Philly.

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