Lewis Mellman wrote:
It has the look of track work. I suspect total replacement.
There is a construction trailer on 45th at Chester, and there was a
public meeting on Tuesday which I did not attend.
I get the impression that SEPTA does not plan to reinstall the
"belgian blocks", but I could be wrong, since I did not attend the
meeting.
I expect that they will install the new, seamless track like on
Baltimore Ave.
This is a much quieter system, except when people park on the tracks;
the horns are the same.
The big question that I have is whether this project is being
coordinated with the Water Department in respect to the problematic
drain at the dip between 43rd and 45th which fills up when it rains
and floods into Clark Park.
The news I got, from someone who was there, was that SEPTA hasn't really
planned this with a lot of local input. It's doubtful that they got city
approval; Chester is a state road, not city, but SEPTA applied for
permission... and didn't get it, so they now assert that they don't need
permissions from the city. There aren't any plans to repair the drainage
there. Also, portions of Chester are designated an historic streetscape,
but the Philly Historical Commission's opposed SEPTA's repairs; SEPTA
apparently isn't planning on replacing the Belgian block. According to
people who were there, SEPTA did apply for permission from
This ain't great for all kinds of reasons. At root, the idea of
repairing a street without repairing the flooding and drainage stuff
underneath it is, frankly, deranged. As far as the park is concerned,
there's a big problem with not consulting with the city, Rec, or even
the stalwart FoCP, as we're planning a rebuild of Park A-- and we'd like
to coordinate the paths with the street and Park B's access points. (The
Belgian block is nice, but its real benefit is that it encourages
traffic to slow down... making the area safer for pedestrians crossing
between the parks.)
Apparently Jim Roebuck's not happy about this, and there's some effort
among several agencies and groups to get an injunction against the
project until these issues are resolved.
----
You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the
list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see
<http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
