One of the key findings of the civic visioning process for the Central Delaware waterfront was that Philadelphians wanted improved recreational access to their river. Accepting that charge, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation has been working to establish the Delaware River Trail—a continuous multi-use recreational trail which, when completed, will stretch along the river from Oregon Avenue to Allegheny Avenue.

The first section of the Delaware River Trail, a paved, off-road segment that hugs the banks of the Delaware River between Pier 70 Boulevard and Washington Avenue, opened to the public in late May to rave reviews. This early segment is attracting increased recreational traffic to this area of the waterfront.

The off-road segment of the Delaware River Trail, which connects the end of Pier 70 Boulevard to Washington St.

The second major section of the Delaware River Trail, presently under preliminary design, will span from Washington Avenue to Penn Treaty Park. The major portion of this part of the trail will run on the sidewalk along Columbus Boulevard, which will be authorized as a shared pedestrian/bicycle pathway. One exception will be in the Penn’s Landing area, where routes along the waterfront promenade will be marked as parts of the recreational trail.

Looking even further into the future, DRWC is considering several projects that will work to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to the Delaware River Trail from neighborhoods adjacent to the waterfront.

One such project is the Race Street Connector, being undertaken in conjunction with the design and construction of the new park at Race Street Pier. This project is in preliminary design by James Corner Field Operations, the same firm responsible for the design of Race Street Pier. Look for more details on these streetscape improvements in the coming months as design work progresses.

In addition to promoting access to the Delaware River waterfront the DRWC is interested in enhancing amenities for bicyclists in the area of Penn’s Landing that are currently lacking. To this end, we have identified appropriate locations for up to 35 new bike racks along the waterfront between the Ben Franklin Bridge and Lombard Street. We’re pursuing the acquisition of bike racks through the City of Philadelphia’s “Adopt-a-Rack” program. It is our hope to have these new racks installed before the end of the biking season this year.

Our north civic cluster meeting, just like the south meeting last week, was a great success! The activities were similar but this time we focused on the Festival Pier site as a place for future possible development. Around 35 people showed up to give their input as we move forward in the master planning process. A big thank you to all who came and participated!

Last night we held our south civic cluster meeting at the Independence Seaport Museum. We had a great turnout! Participants worked with maps and photographs to flesh out details about improving connections to the river, locating open space, and good potential development.

After our north civic cluster meeting on Monday, July 19, we’ll get to work on a summary of these meetings and post it here. Until then, here are some photos of last night’s cluster meeting.

And please come to Monday’s north civic cluster meeting! It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Kensington at 418 E. Girard Ave. We’ll be discussing street connections, open space/recreation, and development potential for the northern portion of the planning area. Hope to see you there!

As part of the public outreach and participation program of the waterfront master planning process, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, in conjunction with the Central Delaware Advocacy Group, is hosting a second round of Civic Cluster meetings.

In this phase of work, as in the one before, there will be one meeting in the northern area of the project area and another in the southern area.  These meetings are designed to generate input from the communities adjacent to the waterfront on a range of pre-selected issues, although both meetings will be open to everyone.  The results of these meetings are then distilled and passed along to the design team.

This round of Civic Cluster meetings will address the issues of waterfront connectivity, open space location and typology and land use at key development areas.

We hope to see you there!

South: Thursday, July 15. 6:30-8:30 pm at the Independence Seaport Museum (211 S. Columbus Blvd.)

North: Monday, July 19. 6:30-8:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Kensington (418 E. Girard Ave.)

As part of the public outreach surrounding the master planning process, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation did four topic-specific focus groups.  The topic areas addressed were waterfront business, historical resources, recreational boating and other recreation.  Across all four focus groups there was consensus on some broad points including the following.

• There is a strong desire for improved access for pedestrians and bicyclists across Delaware/Columbus and I-95 as well as along the waterfront.
• There is strong support for a continuous path or trail along the waterfront.
• Everyone wants to see more coherent connections between pockets of good development and public spaces.
• There was common support for improved signage to and along the waterfront.

For a PDF offering more in-depth information about the results of these focus groups, including the meeting summaries for each group, click here.

And thanks to everyone who participated!

The new wetlands, installed at Pier 53

On Saturday, June 27, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society ran a second workshop at Pier 53, this time focusing on ecology. The session began with a great presentation from the Philadelphia water Department, discussing the findings of various fish studies conducted by PWD in both the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Next, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary spoke about how important the Delaware Estuary system is for a number of species. Did you know that the Delaware Estuary is home to the world’s largest breeding population of horseshoe crabs? Freshwater mussels are especially important to the ecosystem as they are great at filtering water. The mussels in the estuary system can filter 59 million liters in an hour. The children in attendance were able to hold freshwater mussels and learn more about them. We also got to see their filtering in action, comparing a fish tank filled with river water against a tank with the same water with mussels.

Following the presentations, the group headed outside and listened to team members from Biohabitats describe their process for building floating wetlands. After Biohabitats taught the group how to construct a floating wetland, everyone jumped right in and constructed eight wetlands in less than two hours. Thanks to everyone who came and helped out!

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