Urban D Kaye wrote:Hal -
First lemme say, great pic from atop the RDG viaduct.
Well, it's not my pic, it's a re-direct to the Reading Viaduct project.
I love the idea of a the elevated park, but I think there's enough space
on the viaduct to add a trolley as well.
Actually, City of Bethlehem is mixing transportation and conservation money to acquire the old Bethlehem Branch ROW, so I wonder if the Viaduct couldn't be a mix of transit and promenade - of course to coplete things, you'd need a bridge across the Vine Expressway into the Convention Center, but that's not entirely a bad idea.
Urban D Kaye wrote:
The second track you mention is the old RDG city industrial lead,
which departs the ex-B&O trackage at the Art Museum Tunnel and runs thru a trench, under the Police station, and rises to grade just west of Broad St,
. . .
East of Broad the track becomes elevated and joins the viaduct.
Yep- the old City Branch - supposebly it got started way way back as a right of way for a canal between Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers in the 1700s - then was bought for the Main Line of Public Works(?)
Urban D Kaye wrote:
I'm not sure of the practicality of diverting the Rt 15 this far south however.
Well, I always read that you loose 50% of your riders with each transfer,
so wouldn't it be nice to double ridership by offering a 1 seat ride?
And the entrance to Center City via Broad Street Subway is less than stirring- coming south on the Reading Viaduct would be a great visual introduction to Center City- admittedly it would be best for convention goers, but if tourism is really the biggest source of income for Philadelphia,
we ought to start having SEPTA reinforce that tourism market with a the transportation routes.
Well, the idea is to pave the way (bad wording when talking about trollies)
for grade separarted express trolley lines into the heart of Center City.
And the realistic places to do that are from Girard & Brewery Hill via Pensylvania Ave or Girard via Reading Viaduct-
Both of those intersections are convienently situated by the Girard Avenue trolley.
Heck, I'd really love to see a tourist /entertainment focused trolley or even "fake trolley" route running from the Convention Center through that unused ROW, behind the Rodin, to the Art Museum, to the Zoo -
and then run it through Fairmount Park, out to City Avenue into BalaCynwyd, and out across the Manayunk bridge to provide late night trolley service between Main Street Manayunk and Center City.
Hal