Philadelphia has experienced a development boom over the last twenty-five years, with hundreds of projects adding thousands of units and tons of commercial space, effectively transforming the city. That being said, we would posit that the greening of the eastern bank of the Schuylkill River from a barren post-industrial stretch into one of the most utilized public spaces in the city is on the same level of importance as all that new development. And as the Schuylkill River Trail has grown, its importance to the city has grown along with it.
The trail runs along the river, offering a path for pedestrians and cyclists who want a more serene route from Center City to the north. The green space alongside the path is wonderful for picnics, yoga classes, and for kids to run around in grass. For close to 15 years, the trail ended at Locust Street due to the topographical challenges to the south. It was finally extended to South Street via a boardwalk in 2014, and then to Christian Street in 2018.
Last month, another new section of the trail was completed, connecting the section that previously ended at Christian Street to a section that runs along a crescent of the river in the Grays Ferry neighborhood. We last updated progress on the the Christian to Crescent section of the trail in the summer of 2023, and yesterday we got the chance to ride a bike along this shiny new part of the trail. And it was awesome.
As was the case between Locust and South Streets, a boardwalk was necessary to bring the trail into the river itself. New this time around was the inclusion of a cable-stayed suspension bridge which provides a striking aesthetic component to the new section of the trail. The bridge was necessary for engineering purposes which are frankly above our pay grade, but definitely provides the Christian to Crescent section of the trail with a unique showpiece that can been seen from I-76 and the University Avenue Bridge.
The most important aspect of the latest addition to the trail is the increased connectivity with South Philadelphia. We’ve covered projects in Forgotten Bottom here and there over the years, but this small pocket is often, uh, forgotten, due to the fact that it’s hemmed in by CSX tracks, Grays Ferry Avenue, and the river. As of last week, cyclists can make their way from Forgotten Bottom to the South Street Bridge in less than ten minutes. Or if they prefer, they can keep on biking all the way past Valley Forge. That’s huge!
Looking forward, there are a couple more sections still to come for the Schuylkill River Trail. The next step is the completion of the pedestrian bridge that will connect the Grays Ferry Crescent to the section of the trail that runs through Bartram’s Garden. A new stretch that will run from 61st Street to Passyunk Avenue is now in the planning stage and will get built in the coming years. After that, two prongs, running to Fort Mifflin and the Navy Yard, are also proposed. In the next decade, we expect you’ll be able to travel the entire length of the city along the Schuylkill River, from the Navy Yard to the edge of Conshohocken. This would have seemed outlandish and impossible during the Clinton administration. This only begs the question, what impossible goal of today will be achieved by 2050?