A Bridge is Borne

As Nutter's first major public project, the South Street Bridge could set a new standard.

by Bruce Schimmel

Jim Campbell's favorite way of getting around is on his bike. But in his struggle to get the city to build something better than a high-speed interchange to replace the South Street Bridge, Campbell has mounted a variety of metaphorical vehicles to get his issue as far as it has come today — which is the mayor's desk.

Since 2001, Campbell, an architect, has occasionally soloed as the errant knight, jousting for a just but impossible cause. At times, he seemed to command a tank, firing volleys at a complacent city bureaucracy. Along the way, he scored some minor victories.

By 2007, the city's engineers had morphed plans for a stark expressway into something resembling an urban bridge — their current offering. Still, it is ugly, with high turrets, reminiscent of prison guard towers. Pedestrians and bicyclists get a wider swath than in the original design, but must still contend with five lanes of traffic with no barriers to stop a truck that jumps the curb.

Today, Campbell appears to be at the wheel of a very big bus, loaded with scores of neighbors, civic associations, architects and engineers who are bringing fresh, sensible and elegant ideas to City Hall.

Last month, Campbell's crowd met at a design charrette to discuss, sketch and imagine what they'd want in a bridge. And now, urban and transportation planners Wallace Roberts & Todd have poured the community's collective vision into a colorful, 73-page booklet (see it at here).

In the plan, the five lanes of traffic have been cut back to the current bridge's four. Pedestrians have at least 12-foot-wide sidewalks, with decorative railings and planters. Bicyclists will get crash barriers to protect them from traffic. The traffic itself will be slowed to no more than 25 mph.

Mass transit has been restored. A SEPTA stop — which exists on the standing bridge — is back. A median with plantings is being contemplated. And gone are those guard towers, to be replaced by lower turrets, similar to those on today's bridge.

The newly proposed South Street Bridge isn't the Ponte Vecchio or Pont Neuf. But the new design incorporates good, solid green thinking. As Mayor Nutter's first major public project, this new bridge could set a new standard.

The community's vision has just landed on the mayor's desk, and when I spoke with him, Nutter had not yet reviewed it. But the effort has already brought important results. The charrette has bought Campbell and company valuable time.

Last month, the city announced that it would be bidding out the job by the end of April. But now Mayor Nutter says it will be postponed until summer.

"All of these issues will be re-examined in light of the community charrette," Nutter said in a phone call.

Some see the issues to which Nutter is alluding as a dangerous race against time. The current bridge is shedding chunks of concrete. And city engineers say it won't last another winter.

One of the issues facing Campbell and the community is the University of Pennsylvania, at the western end of the bridge, which some believe is quietly driving the project. It's a claim Penn has denied.

For them, Penn is the great unknown. And until recently, the school remained quiet. This is a city project, it said, and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.

But in recent days, Penn released a statement, after I asked if it supported a pedestrian-friendly bridge, and if it would be reviewing the community charrette. Penn replied that it had made suggestions in 2001 to make the bridge more pedestrian-friendly, and was satisfied with the 2007 revisions. It reiterated that the rebuilding should begin soon.

So now it is up to the mayor to reconcile the university's preferences with the community's. instead of Campbell being at the helm, Nutter is now in the driver's seat — and it's a hot one.

(bruce@schimmel.com)