Oval Meetup

JOIN US! For a conversation with the Ben Franklin Parkway redesign team at the Oval Pop-Up Festival, this Sunday at noon!

Philly Parks and Rec is conducting another round of public engagement on plans to revamp the Ben Franklin Parkway. This is a tremendous opportunity to convert what is essentially an urban highway, into a world-class public park for people, not cars. The latest proposed plans can be seen in the survey linked below, but we at 5th Square want to advocate for the original plan (pictured above) which is the most people-friendly design.

The latest proposed plans differ in key ways that scale back the near-entirely pedestrianized original proposal, and some aspects remain unclear. These include:

  • Inclusion of an underground parking structure under Eakins Oval
  • Wide lanes still surround Eakins Oval from Kelly Drive and Spring Garden Street
  • Overpass to the riverfront should be replaced with a mid-block crossing
  • Crossover interchange should be replaced with a roundabout
  • Plans to remove the exit/entrance ramps from I-676 in the original design have been taken out of the latest
  • Concession stands every block (present in original, missing in current plans)
  • No mention of opening the Spring Garden Tunnel to two way traffic

In addition to joining our in-person conversation with the planning team, take the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Survey II from now until September 18th.

25 RSVPS

Will you come?