Philadelphia’s ‘Chinatown Stitch’ Freeway Cap in Danger After Feds Retract Funding

A proposal to cap a portion of the Vine Street Expressway in Philadelphia’s Chinatown could be in jeopardy after the federal government pulled funding from the project, reports Emily Scolnick for WHYY.

The Chinatown Stitch, as it’s known, was awarded nearly $159 million under the Neighborhood Access and Equity grant in March 2024. “But the passage of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” rescinded nearly all NAE grants, leaving lawmakers and project partners scrambling to find alternative sources of funding for projects like the Chinatown Stitch.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation asked the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to reallocate $12.5 million in transportation funds for the final design phase last month, but that funding is not secure yet.

According to Scolnick, “The Chinatown Stitch proposal, to build a 2 1/2-block green space over the sunken expressway between 10th and 13th streets and reconnect the northern and southern sections of Chinatown, was identified in 2017 as a priority for the neighborhood.” The area has been split by the freeway since its construction in the 1960s.