PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The firm in charge of redesigning the Benjamin Franklin Parkway took advantage of the City Parks Alliance conference, in Philadelphia last week, to get some extra input on the process. The project launched a week ago and the designers are hoping for a lot of public participation.
Emily McCoy of the Design Workshop welcomed visiting parks officials and advocates to weigh in on the parkway design — how to make it work today and endure for the future.
"These are just some introductory boards about the history of the parkway and how it has evolved over time," she told officials. "It has been a response to the culture of the time, so what does that mean for a 21st, 22nd century city?"
Fittingly, Design Workshop is working with Philippe Chiamberetta, who leads the redesign of Paris' Champs-Élysées, on which the Parkway is modeled.
Related
"In all of the cities around the world, you have these symbolic places that made the image of the city and what we figure out today is that they became the symbol of a form of modernity that is no longer accurate," said Chiamberetta.
The parkway began as an entrance for carriages to Fairmount Park and became a 10-lane highway. As it becomes increasingly undesirable for cities to accommodate cars, Matt Rader of the Parkway Council said the redesign is intended make the road itself a park.
"We see that as a big opportunity to build a more inclusive city, a more equitable city and a wonderful park that can serve everyone better," Rader said.
Public feedback is part of every phase of the project. The first online survey got 2,000 responses in the first three days. The process is expected to take 12 to 18 months.