Spring Garden Street Connector
Summer 2022 Update
Overview & Background
The envisioned route of the 3,000 mile-long East Coast Greenway from Calais, ME to Key West, FL. More than one third of the route is complete with new miles added ever year.
The Spring Garden Street Connector Project includes a traffic-separated bike and pedestrian facility, known as the Spring Garden Street Greenway (SGSG), a planned segment of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) in Philadelphia along the 3,000-mile, traffic-separated biking and walking route in development from Maine to Florida, linking 25 cities and 450 communities.
When complete, the ECG will connect people off-road from Philadelphia to Trenton, New York City, and Boston to the north; and Wilmington, Baltimore, and Washington, DC to the south.
The ECG is over one third complete nationally, and over halfway complete in the Delaware River Valley, tying together parts of major trails like the D&R Canal Towpath, the D&L Trail, the Schuylkill River Trail, the Cobbs Creek Trail, and the Jack A. Markell Trail.
The East Coast Greenway follows the Spring Garden Street Greenway, a critical link the greater Circuit Trails Network.
In Philadelphia the ECG crosses Center City via Spring Garden Street on the planned segment, the Spring Garden Street Greenway (SGSG). It will link the Schuylkill River Trail to the Delaware River Trail.
The SGSG is part of greater Philadelphia's Circuit Trails network of over 800 miles. To accelerate the network's completion, The Circuit Trails Coalition set a goal of 500 miles by 2025 and formed county-based Action Teams. Philly's goal is to complete the SGSG by 2025, as promised by Mayor Kenney in Connect: Philadelphia’s Strategic Transportation Plan (page 47).
Background: Reimagined Spring Garden Street Greenway
This project builds off of the work done by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, dating back to the 2009 "Center City Greenway Feasibility Study".
2013 Concept Study " The Reimagined Spring Garden Street Greenway ", by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
The Spring Garden Street Greenway has been in various stages of planning since 2009, when the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) led a Center City Greenway Feasibility Study that concluded Spring Garden Street was the best alignment across Center City. PEC followed up with the project, " The Reimagined Spring Garden Street Greenway ," which included extensive public engagement, a pop-up protected bike lane demonstration event, and a concept study in 2013 .
Additionally, the City of Philadelphia has $800k of grant funding to complete preliminary design work ($400k from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s (DVRPC) Regional Trail Fund matching a $400,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources). However, additional funding will be needed to complete design and construction.
Spring Garden St Connector
The City of Philadelphia's "Spring Garden Street Improvement Project", which includes improvements for the corridor.
In 2020, The City of Philadelphia advanced the Spring Garden Street Greenway forward with its " Spring Garden Street Improvement Project ", which included a traffic-separated bikeway as part of its scope, along with improvements for all other modes and green stormwater infrastructure.
Check out the City's full results of the public engagement here , summarized below.
https://www.phila.gov/2021-02-12-spring-garden-street-improvement-project-wraps-up-initial-round-of-outreach-heres-what-you-need-to-know/
SGSG Action: Petition to Fund the Greenway! (UPDATE)
Thank you to the over 1,100 people who signed onto the the Philadelphia Action Team's petition for full funding of the Spring Garden Street Greenway's final design and construction (updated Summer 2022)! This included calling on City leaders to submit the project for Federal funding by signing the petition.
NOTE: The East Coast Greenway Alliance and Circuit Trails Coalition prefer the curbside alignment with a pair of parking-protected bikeways that are continuous for the entire corridor, to maximize access, directness, and intuitiveness of the user experience. Furthermore, to achieve a truly comfortable and safe Greenway, the bikeway should be integrated with other separate space for transit users, pick-up / drop-off zones, and prioritized over turning vehicles along with pedestrian movements across shorter crossing distances made possible by bulbouts at every intersection.
Renderings (above and below) of how a curbside bikeway might look on Spring Garden St, protecting cyclists from traffic by both parked cars and curb separation. This includes space for people walking, getting in and out of buses and vehicles, people making deliveries, preserves existing trees, and incorporates green stormwater infrastructure. Renderings by Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
As mentioned above in the results of the City's public engagement, these design elements are fully supported by the vast majority of those who participated. More details provided in the sections below: "Curb-Separated Bikeway" and "Example Bikeways".
Project Funding
Thanks to the support of community residents, neighborhood organizations, and advocates, the City of Philadelphia and its partners took a major step forward in funding the Spring Garden Connector project, with $31 million committed to final design and the first phase of construction from a mix of local, state, and private funders.
On August 4, 2022, the Circuit Trails Coalition hosted a press event (pictured below) for the announcement of new funding committed to the Spring Garden Street Connector Project: the City of Philadelphia ($2 Million), PA DCNR ($1 Million) , and the William Penn Foundation ($2 Million) each committed funding to cover the $5 million cost for design and engineering. Additionally, the City of Philadelphia allocated $26 million for construction of Phase I of the project into the FY2023 Transportation Improvement Program for PA , which was just approved at the end of July.
Press event details: Spring Garden Street Connector Secures Design Funding & More!
Speakers at the Spring Garden Connector Press Conference: (from left to right) Dr. Darren Lipscomb of Community College of Philadephia, State Rep Mary Isaccson, DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn, BCGP Executive Director Sarah Clark Stuart, West Poplar Neighbors Rachel Collins Clark, Shawn McCaney, Executive Director of the William Penn Foundation (hidden), Councilman Mark Squilla, Callowhill Neighborhood Assn Board President Sarah McEneaney, Deputy Managing Director Mike Carroll, PEC Executive Vice President Patrick Starr and Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation Executive Director John Chin.
What's in the Spring Garden St Connector Project?
With funding for final design and construction for the Spring Garden Street Connector in place, the project team, led by the City of Philadelphia and supported by advocates and the public, can begin the final design process, which the City stated could take up to two years , with subsequent construction afterwards in the coming years. To learn more about the Spring Garden Connector Project, visit: phila.gov/programs/spring-garden-street-improvement-project/ For any questions, contact mail@springgardenstreetimprovements.com
Network Connectivity
Spring Garden Street Greenway is planned as a traffic-separated bikeway (plus sidewalks) from Pennsylvania Ave to Delaware Ave, linking the Schuylkill Banks to the Delaware River Trail.
The corridor serves as a great east-west biking and walking route, connecting residences and businesses in the Spring Garden, Callowhill, Chinatown, and Northern Liberties neighborhoods.
New housing and commercial development has grown steadily along the corridor, particularly from Broad St east to the Delaware River.
Spring Garden St intersects a number of high-injury network streets (12% of city streets with 80% of all injuries; 2014-2018 data, Philadelphia's Vision Zero 2020 ):
- 22nd St
- 21st St
- Broad St
- 10th St
- 2nd St
- Delaware Ave
- NOTE: intersecting segments of Kelly Drive, 8th St, 5th St, and Front St were all in the previous high injury network (12% of streets with 50% of total injuries; 2012-2016, Philadelphia's Vision Zero 2017 )
To address some of these issues, Philadelphia is implementing safety projects on a number of high injury streets:
- 22nd St (existing south of SG)
- 21st St
- Broad St (high priority pedestrian safety corridor)
- 10th St
- 2nd St
- Delaware Ave
Spring Garden Street is a critical spine of the city's High Quality Bicycle Network, linking to a number of existing north-south bike lanes and Indego stations along the corridor.
A traffic-separated Spring Garden Street Greenway would bolster the protected bike network linking the isolated pieces of protected bike lanes on 22nd St, 6th St, and Delaware Ave, and planned protected bike lanes on 10th St (SG to Vine St), 13th St (SG to South St), 2nd St (SG to Race St), and the Central Delaware River Trail currently under construction (SG to Washington Ave)
Eventually, the Spring Garden Street Greenway will be a critical east-west connector that anchors Center City's protected bike lane network (unofficial network map).
Existing Conditions
Below are details around numerous issues facing people traveling Spring Garden Street. A high quality bikeway design can address these issues and improve safety and comfort not just for people biking but also for those walking, taking transit, and driving.
People biking, walking, driving, and taking transit along Spring Garden Street, a fast-growing corridor with new commercial and residential development.
Spring Garden Street: Bike Lanes
The main issue for people biking on Spring Garden St is that painted bike lanes provide no physical protection from traffic. Cyclists are exposed to traffic, often traveling faster than the posted 25 mph speed limit.
The majority of the public is interested in biking but concerned about their safety and comfort while biking next to traffic. These "interested but concerned" cyclists have to avoid Spring Garden St on a less direct route or choose not to bike at all.
Without protected bike facilities, Spring Garden limits the mobility and comfort of risk-averse cyclists, in particular women, older adults, and children.
Safety is also essential for people who bike out of necessity for work, transportation, or both.
(Ghost bike memorial for Pablo Avendano, a delivery cyclist killed in 2018 on Spring Garden Street)
Spring Garden Street's painted bike lanes are routinely blocked, forcing cyclists out into traffic. These obstructions often include:
- Parked or idling vehicles
- Drivers entering/exiting a parking space
- Parked vehicles for loading/unloading
- Drivers/passengers opening car doors
Expanding the Definition of Safety
Without protection from traffic, risk-averse cyclists may instead opt to take the sidewalk, where space is already constrained by people walking, making deliveries, and getting in and out of transit.
Sidewalk riding stems from street design that is insufficiently safe and comfortable to bike. This resulting behavior also opens up the chance of negative and potentially violent interactions with police in traffic stops (or with other citizens) on the corridor.
Traffic safety must be grounded in safety from discrimination and harassment based on one's race, gender, age, physical ability, or socioeconomic status (see the "Equity in Vision Zero" section of the City's 2025 Vision Zero Action Plan ).
Street design should minimize negative interactions by making the safest way to travel also the most convenient way. That means designing for existing behavior with continuous, protected curbside bikeways to reduce sidewalk riding; formalized midblock crossings where there is already high foot traffic; and traffic calming interventions that physically force drivers to slow down through street design.
Safety from discrimination also goes beyond design, requiring institutionalized equity in policing, planning, and policy that seeks to dismantle and eliminate systemic racism. For an example of an Equity Action Plan, see the "Beyond Infrastructure" section of Jersey City's 2019 Let's Ride JC Bicycle Master Plan (page 129).
Spring Garden Street: Sidewalks
Narrow sidewalks, especially west of Broad St, can make Spring Garden cramped for people walking with friends or family, using wheelchairs, pushing strollers, or walking dogs.
Spring Garden St features a number of car-oriented businesses with parking lots and driveways, where vehicles often obstruct the path of those using the sidewalk.
As the corridor continues to densify, potential conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians should be reduced by limiting and reducing the number of driveways along Spring Garden St.
A number of people who are not on bikes could also benefit from a protected bike lane, including people skateboarding, riding scooters, and jogging. They may use the bike lane instead of the sidewalk, as they travel faster than pedestrians, though generally slower than cyclists.
In addition to providing traffic separation for these travelers, like those riding electric wheelchairs, maintaining curbside access to destinations is important, as they may be traveling shorter distances than cyclists.
Spring Garden Street: Transit Stops
Where vehicles block the bus zone, bus drivers have to pick up and drop off passengers in the bike lane and away from the sidewalk.
Even where the sidewalk is extended under the 2nd St Market-Frankford Line Station for boarding the bus, the bus driver still has to block the bike lane when picking up and dropping off passengers.
Additionally, passenger drop-off and pick-up zones are needed, which are separated from the bike lanes and out of the way of buses, especially near transit stations.
Spring Garden Street: Intersections
Intersections are especially chaotic for people biking to and along Spring Garden Street, where bike lanes evaporate beneath turning drivers.
(find the cyclist navigating through the queue of turning vehicles)
Crosswalks at major intersections are exceedingly long with not enough time to cross. The intersections at Pennsylvania Ave and Broad St lack refuge islands.
Turning drivers may speed up to beat the light, encroaching on people crossing. The corridor also lacks countdown timers at many intersections, so pedestrians have to guess how much time is left to cross.
Additionally, if pedestrians get stranded in the median refuge islands at intersections with turning lanes, there is limited space for multiple people to wait, and a lack of curb cuts for wheelchair or stroller access.
The intersection at Broad St is particularly dangerous, as it features an unnecessary slip lane where turning drivers often fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists.
The slip lane should be removed, crossing distances shortened, and timing extended for people crossing on foot and by bike.
Foot traffic is especially high here, with multiple entrances to the Spring Garden St Station of the Broad Street Line (BSL) and a dense mix of offices, apartments, and retail. This also includes two major new developments under construction on the north side of the intersection.
Curb-Separated Bikeway
Comparison: Painted bike lane vs. parking-protected, curb-separated bikeway along Spring Garden Street
To combat these issues, a bikeway separated from traffic by parked cars and a curb would provide substantially more safety and comfort for people biking. Having it along the curb would allow cyclists easy access to jobs, residences, services, restaurants, and shops along the corridor. But it would also improve travel for other modes as well:
- People walking and getting in and out of vehicles use separated space from the bikeway, with new green stormwater infrastructure and vegetation that will add shade and comfort, while reducing flooding.
- A curbside bikeway creates an opportunity to redesign and improve the curbside to better manage special parking zones for disabled access, bus stops, deliveries, and passenger pick-up and drop-off.
- A curbside bikeway creates an opportunity to redesign safer intersections and crossings from the curbside where improvements would benefit people walking as well those biking.
Originally, a median-aligned bikeway was considered as shown by this 2014 rendering by Interface Studio. Since then, development has greatly increased along the corridor, making Spring Garden St more of a destination and access to the curb more important. Additionally, more successful curbside examples have been built around the country.
A median bikeway was considered by the Spring Garden Street Improvement Project ( more info ), which would provide separation from traffic and driveways. However, it would not allow for easy access to curbside destinations, and it does not open up the same opportunities as a curbside alignment for improving conditions along the curb for pedestrians, transit users, or parking management. The Project Team heard from the City's round of public engagement that a curbside alignment was the preferred design for the project.
See below for examples of curbside bikeways that navigate and mitigate issues to improve travel for all users.
Example Bikeways
Separated bikeway with vegetation: Vancouver, BC
The 1st Ave bikeway in Vancouver includes space for each mode along with vegetation that can take on stormwater from the street.
Transit Access: Cambridge, MA and Seattle, WA
Western Ave bikeway in Cambridge, MA, reduces bus-cyclist conflicts by sending the bikeway behind bus stops.
Broadway separated cycletrack in Seattle with a longer, floating transit station, which would be helpful for busier stops in Philly, like below the 2nd St MFL Station.
Protected Intersection for biking and walking: Vancouver, BC
Concrete curb islands force turning drivers to slow down and take a wider turn, opening their field of vision and making it easier to see and yield to people crossing on foot or bike.
Commercial St two-way bikeway in Boston includes green, raised crossings at driveways with curb extensions to preserve visibility for turning drivers.
Access ramps by parking: Indianapolis, IN
The Indianapolis Cultural Trail includes accessible ramps by designated parking spaces (though the delivery truck is blocking a disabled access parking space)
Philly Examples
Although there is no example with all of the elements being proposed for the Spring Garden Street Greenway existing in Philly, there are still many examples with select design elements in Philly, which people should visit and try out.
Delaware River Trail (Penn St): two-way bikeway at sidewalk level
This curb-separated bikeway on the Delaware River Trail is connected to Spring Garden Street at Delaware Ave , and it demonstrates a facility with dedicated space for both walking and biking side by side at the same grade.
Bartram's Mile sidepath (ECG): shared-use path by Botanic Ave
A parking-protected path with green stormwater infrastructure as a buffer and as a curb extension at each end of the block. The buffer also includes sidewalk space for people to get in and out of parked vehicles.
58th St Greenway sidepath (ECG): shared-use path on 58th Street
Biking and walking path along 58th St in the Kingsessing neighborhood of SW Philly, with the path aligned behind bus and trolley stops.
West Bank Greenway : shared-use path along 31st Street
Busy biking and walking path along 31st St, parking-protected for a portion.
Reimagine Spring Garden
Spring Garden St & Delaware Ave : Imagine protected intersections where people walking and biking need extra protection from turning movements. Such a design would check off many boxes from the City's 2025 Vision Zero Action Plan
How a protected intersection might look from above where Spring Garden Street Greenway meets the Delaware River Trail.
Additional Resources: NACTO & DVRPC
" Don't Give Up at the Intersection " by National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO, 2019) with detailed guidance on ensuring safety at crossings and intersections.
" Modern Trolley Station Design Guide " by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC, 2017) with design guidance that can be applied to Spring Garden's varied bus stops.
Stay Involved and Be Active
- Become a Circuit Citizen (if you haven't already) and join the Philadelphia Action Team! If you joined the action team via Circuit Trails Website, we will be in touch with future actions.
- Word of mouth -- tell your friends!
- Tell City of Philadelphia leaders that we appreciate their efforts, via our Gratitude Campaign ( Philadelphia letter )
- Follow us on Facebook: Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia , The Circuit Trails , and the East Coast Greenway Alliance
- On the web: bicyclecoalition.org , circuittrails.org , greenway.org
- Contact info: Daniel Paschall, East Coast Greenway Alliance: daniel@greenway.org
