The effort to build the Chinatown Stitch, which aims to reconnect a severed neighborhood by capping part of the Vine Street Expressway, took a giant leap forward with a recently awarded $158 million federal grant. Officials said they anticipate a 2027 groundbreaking for a project that would cover part of the below-ground-level expressway and tie Chinatown proper to the area known as Chinatown North. “This is transformative,” said John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., after the Monday announcement in Chinatown. Officials said the funding represents money to build the cap, which would reach from 10th to 13th streets, not for more study of the issue. The new funding will include development of a public park across the expressway, traffic calming measures, and a connection to the Rail Park on the Reading viaduct. The form of any structures to go on the cap is yet to be determined but could include shops, housing, offices or public buildings. The money comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot grant program, billed as the first federal program dedicated to rejoining communities that were cut off from economic opportunities or otherwise hurt by past transportation and infrastructure decisions. In Chinatown, a cap has been talked about for years but never moved beyond the idea-and-study stage. The desire to connect the two ends of the neighborhood has grown in the past decade as more businesses and residents have moved into Chinatown North.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 3/11/2024