The City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) recently launched a $4 million project to evaluate ways to reconnect Chinatown.
The Chinatown and Chinatown North neighborhoods have been separated by the Vine Street Expressway since 1991. Over the past two decades, the community has engaged in neighborhood plans and studies.
The Chinatown Stitch study will gather community input to re-imagine the expressway with a cap, a bridge, platform, or structure built over a limited access highway. The cap will create the potential for parks, open space, and commercial and residential development.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program awarded the city a $1.8 million grant to allow the partners to expedite the planning process.
“After more than three decades of harm and displacement caused by the Vine Street Expressway, the Reconnecting Communities grant is a beacon of hope for the Chinatown community,” John Chin, PCDC executive director, said. “The funding from this grant will provide concrete change for Chinatown’s built environment, allowing for businesses, residents, and future generations of our marginalized community to flourish.”
The study will have two phases: seek public input to develop a project vision and goals and use input to develop a series of potential designs.