Decades after Philadelphia’s Chinatown was divided by a cavernous freeway, city officials and federal lawmakers on Monday secured a grant to reconnect the community by building a park atop six lanes of traffic. It was announced that.
The $159 million grant to build the three-block-long park above the Vine Street Expressway will be funded under the infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021.
“We are finally on the path to reconnecting Chinatown,” Sen. Bob Casey told a news conference nearby.
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The grant is part of a years-long effort to repair damage done to Chinatown by the six-lane expressway, which opened in 1991 despite protests from nearby residents.
The money for Chinatown Stitch comes as Chinatown boosters grapple with their latest fight against a major development project, this time a proposal to build a new arena for the Philadelphia 76ers a block away. brought to you.
John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, called Chinatown Stitch “a transformation unlike anything Chinatown has seen before.” He said he was “in awe” of the grant approval.
Pedestrians cross 10th Street in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood on July 22, 2022. Decades after Philadelphia’s Chinatown was divided by a cavernous freeway, city officials and federal lawmakers on Monday, March 11, 2024, secured a grant to reconnect the community. announced. Build a park on top of the 6 lanes. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
“What this means is that you won’t see this divide anymore, you won’t even realize that Chinatown is divided by major thoroughfares,” Chin said at a press conference. “Main streets will be shrunk, freeways will be capped under them and no one will see them, and our communities will have green spaces, community spaces and amenities they never had before.”
Construction is expected to begin in 2027, Chin said.
Funding for the project came from a program designed to help reunite communities that have been divided by highways and other transportation projects.
The Vine Street Expressway was conceived as a way to alleviate traffic congestion and provide a quick connection between Interstates 76 and 95. The freeway has 13 lanes, including service roads, and runs for two miles along the northern edge of downtown Philadelphia.
Deborah Wei, who has helped organize protests against large-scale development projects encroaching on Chinatown, said it has taken away 25 to 40 percent of Chinatown.
The Chinatown stitch is “kind of a small, small way to repair some of the massive damage that has been done over the years,” Wei said.
Chinatown residents have opposed several major developments that they say have disrupted or impacted their community. They won some victories and lost some, helping defeat the Philadelphia Phillies stadium and casino proposal.
Wei said Chinatown Stitch should not be viewed as a “gift” to the community in exchange for the 76ers Arena, which the community still opposes.
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“This would have happened with or without the arena proposal, because this is an effort to repair this damage,” Wei said. “No one is being asked to go to the arena to get it.”
