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The Spring Garden Connector Project has been in the works since 2009.
And nearly 16 years later, many Philadelphians are still waiting for the promised improvements for bikers and pedestrians along the corridor.
The project – which connects the Schuylkill and Delaware River trails as part of a larger, nationwide trail – aims to address existing safety concerns for cyclists and pedestrians along the road.
First Deputy Commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Streets’ Richard Montanez says the organization has made major strides in securing more money for the project.
“We did get some major funding that we’re able to use to then finalize our design,” he said. “So we did start preliminary design this year.”
Montanez said the timing has allowed project stakeholders to engage with community members.
“The community obviously wanted a safe corridor, a bikeable corridor and a walkable corridor, and so we are trying to incorporate all those designs,” he said.
Slow progress
The nationwide East Coast Greenway Project is a nationally connected trail system that links states from Maine to Florida through a 3,000-mile route.
Spring Garden Street was selected as the Philly-area connector after a study of different city streets in 2009.
From there, the city took some steps to secure funding and put forth preliminary proposals.
A major milestone of the project in 2016 featured a public art installation along the I-95 underpass outside of the Spring Garden El station. Once dark, the new set of lights guided pedestrians from the Delaware Riverfront toward Second Street in Northern Liberties.
But the project’s main vision – which includes a parking-protected bike lane down the whole street and raised crosswalks for pedestrians – is still in the works.
Currently, the street’s bike lanes only have painted lines to separate bikers from cars – and many times, obstructions like cars parked in bike lanes force bikers to ride in the street.
Many Philadelphians say the project is not moving fast enough to protect those who use the road and bike lanes.
Spring Garden Street also intersects with several high-injury network streets, which includes spots where there are frequent crashes between pedestrians and cyclists.
Montanez said the project required extra funding that took time to secure. In the meantime, he said the Streets Department has refined community priorities even more through open houses, comment boxes and other public engagement.
“At the open houses in 2025, we got a lot of comments,” he said. “It has just taken us a while to digest those comments and take a look.”
Montanez said these designs also incorporate newer technology, like e-bikes, and the safety of all riders.
“I know we keep mentioning bikes, but we also have e-bikes, scooters, and people walking,” he said. “Even people who ride transit, eventually they get off the bus or get off the El and walk home. There are also those individuals who may use Indego bikes to get to their final destination. So we’re just trying to provide a safe corridor for everyone to use to get to and from their residence and their business.”
Other concerns include limited space for buses to let out passengers, limited spots for vehicles to unload/load and a lack of countdown timers for pedestrians crossing the streets.
Moving forward
For now, the project will still take at least several years to complete.
“We’re hoping to go into final design somewhere in 2027, then hopefully we can then do advertisement of the project in 2029,” Montanez said.
The city has continued to push back the date of the project’s completion – with previous correspondence saying the project’s design would be completed in 2025, and others saying the construction could’ve began this year.
Despite this, the project is still in the “preliminary engineering” phase. But, Montanez said this does give community members a chance to provide more input on the project.
“We do have a website available, and if the community wants to provide any comments, please do,” he said. “We are taking them into consideration as we’re doing our design.”
