Philly RFQ: I-95 Runs Through It

The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) has put out a request for qualifications for teams of engineers, planners and designers to create preliminary designs for an 8-acre park to be built over a portion of I-95 in Philadelphia. The park would provide a walkable and bikable connection between a prospective waterfront redevelopment area, Penn's Landing, and Philadelphia's historic Old City.

Penn's Landing is currently an outdoor concert and festival destination without other uses to attract visitors.

The DRWC requires that preliminary design proposals study market demand on the waterfront. Its masterplan calls for a mix of uses, including retail and mid-rise residential.

Light rail planning to connect the waterfront to Center City is also part of the project.

Examples of successful urban transformations of a similar scope include Providence's rerouting of I-95 out of the city, the Embarcadero's conversion from an elevated freeway to a six-lane boulevard in San Francisco and Dallas's construction of a 5.2 acre park over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway.