In mid-2003, when the new Schuylkill River Park was finally beginning to be constructed, it became apparent that the access over the railroad crossings at Race and Locust Streets into the Park were in danger of being closed off by CSX due to previous agreements that the City of Philadelphia made with CSX’s predecessor. In response to this threat, Free Schuylkill River Park was created by a number of neighbors and park users as a campaign to keep the two street-level crossings open and safe for pedestrians and other park users.
During 2004 and 2005, we created a website and capability to provide park users with opportunities to send CSX and elected officials letters, emails, faxes and phone calls regarding the need to keep the two crossings open and safe for public access. When CSX sued the City in late 2004 to force a closing of the two crossings, we filed to intervene. Although we were not successful in our intervention motion, the Judge believed that the City’s position was so similar to ours that it represented our interests. The Judge asked the City’s Law Department to consult with us as the case proceeded.
During 2005, we worked to keep pressure on CSX to stop blocking access into Schuylkill River Park by parking trains and to cease parking garbage trains. We worked with City Council to pass ordinances deploring the parking and to get hearings scheduled to bring CSX to publicly testify. After refusing to appear or substantively testify before Councilman Michael Nutter’s Utilities Committee twice, CSX testified for two hours at a hearing in late December 2005 and pledged to “soften” the parking. After that hearing, in February 2006, CSX and the City began to seriously negotiate a settlement. A year later, in December 2006, a tentative agreement was reached allowing both crossings to remain open as long as a bridge was built in the vicinity of Locust Street.
In April 2007, that agreement was signed by both Mayor John F. Street and CSX Vice President William Goetz. The two grade crossings are due to be installed in 2009 and the connector bridge is in final design. During the course of the campaign, we sent out 10 action alerts and an online petition. We sent emails to park users who had signed up to receive alerts and also took laptops into the Park to ask park users to send a letter. These techniques resulted in thousands of letters and faxes sent to several targets, ranging from CSX executives, City Council members and other elected officials.
Over 2500 persons signed the online petition. We set up train cams at both crossings so that anyone could get a real time video picture of the crossings from our website. We also set up a “complaint form” for anyone to send a notice to CSX that a train was blocking their access. We used the data from those forms to establish the pattern of train parking over a two year period, which we submitted to City Council.
We were supported by the William Penn Foundation and the Rails to Trails Conservancy. Individuals and many local businesses also supported our efforts and our three 5K runs called “Runnin on the River”. In the Fall of 2005, we incorporated as a non-profit corporation and received tax-exempt status in late spring 2006. The official name of our organization is the Lower Schuylkill River Users Association. In mid-2007, we changed our “fictitious” name from Free Schuylkill River Park to the Schuylkill River Park Alliance to signal our change from focusing on the two crossings issue to working for all park users of Schuylkill River Parks along the tidal Schuylkill River.
We have submitted this entry because the campaign exemplifies citizen-based advocacy that can empowers a community to have a greater say over the use of its public spaces. The campaign made a public park safer and more accessible and created a more sustainable transportation alternative for recreational and commuting bicyclists. The lasting is long-term, because the agreement will keep open two pre-existing street level access points into Schuylkill River Park from City streets in perpetuity as long as the agreement is abided by both parties.
The impact is certainly measureable in that the use of the Park greatly exceeded expectations (30,000 usages a month) and the Locust Street entrance was found to be the second highest entry/exit point, after Martin Luther King Drive. This campaign’s success adds greatly to the sustainability of Philadelphia’s transportation alternatives and helps connect many city neighborhoods to a prominent riverfront greenway. For a municipality to work out such as good deal with a freight railroad, we believe is a precedent. Lastly, this campaign was all about partnerships, between civic organizations, between citizens and elected officials, between citizens and the Street Administration, and between elected officials across party lines. We believe that the lessons learned from this campaign can certainly be replicated elsewhere.
The impact of our entry is that two street level crossings over two working freight rail tracks will be kept open, are now legal and improved so that people can safely cross them and trains can safely move across them. Garbage trains will no longer be moved through Philadelphia once the rail lines are improved. A third access above grade point over the tracks will also be built in the vicinity of Locust Street. Thousands of park users will be able to safely use the crossings for recreation, commuting and enjoyment of the Schuylkill River Trail.
Fairmount Park and Schuylkill River Development Council have increased certainty and control over using the crossings for programming and maintenance. A 15 minute documentary of the campaign is now available documenting the campaign’s strategy and tactics as an model for other community-based efforts. Overall, this campaign adds an important sustainability feature to Philadelphia’s portion of the Schuylkill River Trail and adds value to the successful redevelopment of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
