Residents of Chestnut Hill, Germantown and Mt Airy must be aware by now that the long-overdue major repair projects on Germantown Avenue are about to commence.  Public meetings have been held, although one might question the timing and limited advance notice that would be needed to be fully inclusive.  The local press has documented the issue, the objections and some of the suggested remedies, but some intervention is needed if the public needs are to be properly addressed.

 

Before the first digging begins, consider this. Northwest Philadelphia is a neighborhood like no other.  Its history, architecture, tree lined streets; extensive park network and mature natural landscape are its main attractions for both long-term and new residents alike. Often overlooked in explaining how this section of the city so well survived the reckless urbanization that claimed other neighborhoods is that no expressway or high speed highway conduit was ever built to the Northwest - -and most of us like it that way.  Sure, we also have something else no other section of the city has, and that is two, count them two, commuter rail lines that depart one block apart and arrive in center city at the same destinations in a half-hour or less; we are fortunate. But our inter-community traffic depends largely on highways laid out in the 19th and very early 20th^th centuries with little major realignment since then, only maintenance and upgrades.

 

Two multiple-block major maintenance projects, one near central Germantown and one at the northern tip of Mt. Airy into Chestnut Hill are planned to close what is arguably the major continuous artery in the Northwest, Germantown Avenue, for extended periods of time; detouring all traffic but the most local in the process. No one argues that the work, both sewer and street repairs are not overdue. What we have learned however is that those planning the repairs put ease and efficiency for the contractors and initial cost considerations ahead of the needs of the residents. The nearly year-long impact on the community is much further down on the priority scale. There is also the matter of the quality and consistency of the work to meet already established standards for these neighborhoods.

 

Considering that this artery ( Germantown Avenue ) is so highly utilized by local residents, outside visitors and commercial deliveries there is no excuse for doing the work the way it has been announced by Pen Dot and SEPTA.  They claim that there is no other way but full closure and rerouting all through traffic.  Nonsense!  Highway after highway has been rebuilt in this city over the years using the half-and-half method where bi-directional traffic has been maintained excluding stopping or parking, while one side of the street is repaired two lanes are open and then the opposite side is done.  This can be accomplished block-by-block with only minor interruption to traffic flow and virtually no closure of access to businesses, schools, or residences in the process. Bureaucrats who tell you it is not possible are disingenuous.  Not only has it been done, it has been done in past years when streetcars were running and they were kept running during the process. Of course it will require some change in planning, keeping construction vehicles off site except when individual ones are working (inconvenient maybe, but not impossible) and yes, there may be additional costs. But measured against the costs to the community over many months at a time, those costs must be borne and planned for. After all, we are paying them in the long run.

 

Alternatives include large subsidies for impacted businesses where access would be denied for the extended periods of time.  Some of that is in the works according to recent reports, so more money is to be spent. I do not disagree that the poor planning here will substantially impact those businesses and there should be remedies before the work begins. However, instead of trying to compute just how much revenue they might lose, and then rationalize how much the taxpaying public will have to cough up to keep them solvent, why not compute the additional cost of the half-and-half repair method that keeps the road and business access open in the first place.  If you are going to spend more money, why not spend it where the most benefit to ALL citizens would be felt.  Commuting between Germantown , Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill is a regular daily ritual trip many area residents make for schools, work, shopping and the like. There are no easy detour routes for the areas being rebuilt and the detoured traffic patterns will be a nightmare, cause grave inconvenience and untold loss of commerce for businesses beyond just the ones in the affected blocks. 

 

It is far too difficult to exactly measure the full impact but it will be substantial and prolonged.  Spend the money keeping the street open while the project is ongoing.  That would be the most democratic use of the dollars, and the fairest.

 

Released figures indicate that the project is being paid for 80% with Federal dollars and 20% Pen Dot and SEPTA contributions.  Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, both mayoral candidates, it seems would be the ones to call to redirect our priorities.  There are such things as legal injunctions for the public good.

 

Jim Foster

Mt. Airy/ Germantown