City officials to revamp Market Street between Sixth Street and City Hall.
Philadelphia is embarking on a significant renovation project aimed at revitalizing the sidewalks, landscaping, and streetscapes along Market Street, from Sixth Street to City Hall. This initiative comes on the heels of a recent million renovation project completed in Old City, which enhanced the thoroughfare from Second to Sixth Streets over an 18-month construction period. The funding for the new project is bolstered by a .5 million federal grant awarded for the planning and design phase.
The renovation project is a key component of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s broader initiative to enhance the Market East corridor, a major commercial hub in the city. Planners acknowledge that the stretch towards City Hall presents unique challenges due to heavy pedestrian and transit use, which will necessitate a careful consideration of how to serve diverse stakeholders, including transit riders, pedestrians, and cyclists.
The Department of Planning and Development is overseeing the revitalization, with assistance from the Market East Corridor Advisory Group. This public-private collaboration seeks to create a vision that underscores safety, a primary concern highlighted by recent evaluations identifying the section of Market Street as part of the city’s “high injury network.”
The new federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will specifically focus on planning the streetscape between Sixth and Juniper Streets, with city officials indicating that their own funds will match the federal contribution. However, the construction timeline could extend several years due to the complex evaluation process required for assessing traffic patterns and potential designs, which may include innovative features like road diets and dedicated bike lanes.
Compounding these challenges, the design of the new streetscape must account for the shallow depth of the underground subway system, which limits the feasibility of traditional street-level landscaping. According to Kelly Yemen, the director of Philadelphia’s Office of Multimodal Planning, future plantings may need to consider elevated planters to accommodate the subway infrastructure’s height restrictions.
The city is collaborating with the consulting firm WFP and a range of subconsultants to explore various design options. As the planning phase progresses, planning officials aim to engage the public effectively, initiating broader community outreach in July to gather feedback on the Market East revitalization strategy. While funding for the planning is secured, additional resources for construction will likely be sought through future federal and state grants, highlighting the ongoing need for community involvement in shaping the future of this vital urban corridor.
