110415 | Schuylkill Banks Christian to Crescent (TIGER) (Philadelphia City)

This section of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) will close a trail gap that exists between the Trail’s current terminus at Christian Street to the beginning of the next Trail segment at 34th Street, known as the Grays Ferry Crescent. Sponsored by the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC) in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia, this trail section parallels approximately 3,000 feet of the riverfront and is titled Christian to Crescent by SRDC. The Schuylkill River Park Trail is envisioned as a continuous trail on the east bank of the lower Schuylkill River extending southward from the Fairmount Water Works to Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River.
This project is one of several phases of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) which will ultimately follow the Schuylkill River through the City of Philadelphia from the River's terminus at the Delaware River through to the Montgomery County border where the trail will ultimately connect to the Chester Valley Trail and continue west through Chester County. The SRT is a regional trail that connects Valley Forge National Historical Park to Historic Bartram’s Garden has been constructed in segments through a variety of fund sources and other MPMS #’s including 70220, 68067, 81584, and 90144 and allows users to access work, school, shops, medical facilities and other services throughout Philadelphia. Filling the gap in this regionally vital trail makes the entire system more valuable. It opens trips from rural and suburban areas that surround Philadelphia to cultural destinations, like Historic Bartram’s Garden. It creates safer connections for students and employees who live in Center City and commute to the University of Pennsylvania’s Pennovation Center in Grays Ferry or the University of the Sciences in Southwest Philadelphia. Likewise, it will allow commuters and residents from Southwest Philadelphia to be able to more easily access Center City. It will encourage more individuals to walk or commute by bicycle, which many commuters avoid if a significant portion of the route is likely to be shared with vehicles. This expands the user base of the trail system and reduces vehicle traffic on crowded streets and highways during peak traffic hours.
This project is part of the Circuit Trails. The Circuit is a planned 800-mile interconnected network of multi-use trails spanning Greater Philadelphia with Philadelphia and Camden as its hub, and is included in DVRPC’s Long-Range Plan. Existing and future Circuit Trails are required to meet minimum design standards (10-feet wide, paved, and separated from traffic with limited exceptions) to reflect their intended use as the arteries of a dedicated, regional, non-motorized transportation system. Circuit Trails located near and connecting to downtown Philadelphia are already used heavily for transportation purposes, and the implementation of the network will further encourage the surging growth of bicycle commuting in the region. At 2.2%, Philadelphia has the highest bike-to-work percentage of the 10 largest cities in the country and the 11th highest of the 70 largest cities according the 2016 American Community Survey.
This project has been awarded $12,000,000 in Federal TIGER 9 funding.
$1,000,000 provided by DCNR is listed as "Other" funding in FY19 ($500,000) and FY20 ($500,000)

No milestones are available for this project.