BLOSSOM AT BARTRAM! COMPLETE STREETS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

THE CHALLENGE

In Southwest Philadelphia, SEPTA's Trolley Route 36 corridor is vital for connecting residents to employment, education, healthcare, and fostering economic opportunities. However, challenges such as speeding drivers, inadequate pedestrian and bike facilities, and auto-body and salvage shop overflow onto the roadway and sidewalks pose safety risks to the community. The corridor is part of the City of Philadelphia’s Vision Zero High Injury Network, with three people killed and one seriously injured between 2014 and 2018. As a result, the corridor acts as a barrier that keeps residents from safely traveling with SEPTA and enjoying neighborhood assets like Bartram's Garden (a 50-acre waterfront public park and America’s oldest preserved botanic garden), the Schuylkill River Trail, and the future Lower Schuylkill Biotech campus.

 

Between 2021 and 2022, SEPTA looked holistically at all travel modes and uses along 1.15 miles of this corridor to improve safety, public health, and livability. Community engagement was critical to developing roadway safety improvement recommendations, especially for cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders. Many residents expressed a fear of going outside due to the threat of gun violence in the neighborhood, which made public engagement a challenge for SEPTA.

 

This project is part of Trolley Modernization, SEPTA’s long-term program to improve service with new, accessible trolleys and on-street stations.

HOW WE HELPED

The project kicked off with a corridor clean-up event that included SEPTA, project partners like the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), and the consultant team. Understanding how community members’ concerns could impact engagement, McCormick Taylor partnered with the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia (AVP) to better understand how to reach residents who regularly experience gun violence.

 

Outreach techniques included website updates; social media posts; two rounds of project postcard mailings to 1,536 addresses; text messages to neighbors; “robocalls” through the Philadelphia Water Department; alerts/ads in the University City Review and Patch.com; emails to elected officials and project partners; door-to-door canvassing; and flyers in local businesses, the library, and the recreation center.

 

The engagement focused on meeting people where they are. This included pop-up events with complimentary snacks at high-traffic trolley stops and community centers, hosting a community movie night in partnership with Bartram’s Garden, and hosting a community event with free water ice. McCormick Taylor held an open house at a neighborhood church for the public to view the roadway safety improvement designs. Organizations, like AVP and the Philadelphia Housing Authority, provided their services at several of the in-person public engagement events. An online survey and virtual meetings were offered as well.

RESULTS

Overall, 16 different public engagement events were held over the course of the project and 263 people attended the in-person and virtual events. The survey received a total of 1,245 responses. Over 50% of the responses were from the project area ZIP code.

 

McCormick Taylor analyzed the public engagement results and summarized what was heard. Feedback was used to create roadway safety improvement recommendations. Residents and property owners expressed openness to dramatic changes to make this corridor safer, greener, more welcoming, and accessible. Attendees expressed interest in getting community groups, especially youth, involved with the design of the future gateway parks. In summer of 2023, SEPTA secured $25 Million in federal RAISE grant funding for Trolley Modernization and Complete Streets. Some of these funds will go towards implementing the Blossom at Bartram! Complete Streets recommendations. Successful implementation of the project will require the continued effort of the project partners to complete the final design, obtain any necessary additional funding, construct the improvements, and establish maintenance agreements.