House Philadelphia Delegation congratulates city for infrastructure awards

Philadelphia County Delegation    April 20, 2022 | 2:41 PM

HARRISBURG, April 20 – The Pennsylvania House of Representative’s Philadelphia Delegation congratulated the City of Philadelphia on its receiving state funds to go ahead with several street and school projects and upgrades for ADA improvements and cyclists around the city.

Gov. Tom Wolf and state Transportation Secretary Yassmin Gramian today announced the approval of funding for 64 projects to improve transportation alternatives and enhance mobility and public accessibility across the state, five of which are destinated for Philadelphia.

The Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability and Streets Department will receive:

  • $1 million for a streetscape, side path/trail and intersection safety upgrade project that completes a major gap in the Philadelphia and Circuit trail network. Upon completion, trail users will connect to the Pennypack Trail and the East Coast Greenway, safely allowing passage from Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods to the national East Coast Greenway (both completed portions and soon-to-be constructed portions).
  • $1 million to replace painted pedestrian areas on Chestnut Street, with concrete pedestrian islands to elevate pedestrian safety along the corridor and expand the project area west to 63rd Street.
  • $1 million for Logan Square sidewalk modernization at the Swann Memorial Fountain, including updating eight outdated ADA ramps and replacing approximately 18,000 square feet of deteriorated concrete sidewalk and granite curb, and matching work surrounding the improved areas of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
  • $540,000 to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Navy Yard by installing the first phase of a shared-use side path, along the western side of South Broad Street from FDR park to the Navy Yard.
  • $450,000 for a project coordinator for a middle school pedestrian and bicycle safety curriculum, including developing parent/caregiver materials, a bicycle and pedestrian safety learning e-module for students, creating conceptual design plans that create slow zones around schools, and other coordination.

“State investment brings with it the power to get projects shovel ready and completed in neighborhoods that have waited too long for addressing, or where not addressing a problem presents a danger,” said state Rep. Jason Dawkins, who chairs the House Philadelphia Delegation. “This is government working together for a common good, and I thank the administration and the city for their support in appropriating this financing. Collaboration really makes a difference in Philadelphia.”

The administration awarded $54.1 million through the Surface Transportation Block Grant program Set-Aside or Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside. Before the BIL’s passage, $18 million was available. The TA Set-Aside provides funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives, including on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.

The applications were reviewed, and selections made based on such criteria as safety benefits, reasonableness of cost, readiness for implementation, statewide or regional significance, integration of land use and transportation decision making, collaboration with stakeholders, and leverage of other projects or funding. The applications were reviewed by representatives from PennDOT, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, state Department of Health, and three Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations.

A list of awards for the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Projects, including those funded by the BIL (noted as “(BIL)”), is available on the program web page.