Rolling on a River: On the Seventh Day, Nutter Delcareth "Let There Be Public Access."

I know it's difficult to imagine wanting to walk/jog/bike/blade/streak along the Delaware River on a snowy morning like this one, but bare with Nutter Butter for one minute because he kinda made a big announcement yesterday. Fresh off giving the old Penn's Landing Corporation a good spanking for its lethargy and corruption, Nutter called a press conference on Sunday to announce the first major public space project in the implementation of the PennPraxis Civic Vision for the Central Delaware.

Thanks to a $1 million grant from the William Penn Foundation, the City will begin work on the following: (1) design and construction of a park on the currently vacant Pier 11, located at Race Street along the Delaware; (2) the creation of a Central Delaware Public Access Master Plan, which will outline specific entry points from the riverward neighborhoods to the river to maximize this public amenity; and (3) construction of an interim trail section that will go from where Penn's Landing proper ends at Lombard Street to the Wal-Mart and Home Depot shopping area at Mifflin Street. This confirms that William Penn does in fact fund everything cool in Philadelphia, if there was ever any doubt. Some capital funding will also be provided by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, which has a little somethin' somethin' in its coffers as the landlord for all Penn's Landing property. A development corporation with a revenue stream... sweet.

Thanks to work already done by the Center City District, construction of this interim trail is set to begin the spring and be completed by July. It will use some existing sidewalks as well as run on certain private riverfront properties.

In other news, First District Councilman Frank DiCicco also announced that on Thursday he will be introducing a new zoning mapping and overlay for the central Delaware riverfront area from Oregon Avenue to Allegheny Avenue in an effort to guide future development once the market picks up again. Riverfront advocates will likely be looking for provisions for public access along private parcels, introduction of the street grid across large parcels, and parking caps that prevent other parts of the riverfront from becoming glorified surface lots like Penn's Landing.

Some big announcements for a Sunday, right? Sure beats going to church. But seriously, anyone who doubts the benefits of a riverfront trail need look no further than the Schuylkill, which is kicking the Delaware's ass in hotness points right now despite being more like a babbling brook compared to the mighty force of Philadelphia's original river. Nutter's got the right idea—now let's see if he makes good on this one.

For more:
PlanPhilly: Dawn of public access on Delaware
Philebrity: Is Today the day the Delaware Riverfront Begins the End of its Age of our Great Civic Shame?

Photo by author.