Sports complex patrons might find some relief in traffic woes in the months and years to come.
The Philadelphia City Planning Commission announced last week that it had accepted a consultant’s study suggesting possible improvements to reconnect the sports complex to the rest of the city.
Gary Jastrzab, director of strategic planning and policy at PCPC, said the consultant team, led by Kise Straw Kolonder Inc., reviewed the way people arrive at the South Philly arenas. The result was a list of short- and long-term recommendations.
The short-term solutions would take six months to two years to implement, and include enhancement of pedestrian paths and walkways with signs and fences, Jastrzab said. That would help move the massive flow of fans to Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park, he said.
The planning commission also wants to work toward "improving SEPTA marketing for transit down to the complex," Jastrzab said. The right campaign could convince stadium-goers to park in Center City and take SEPTA, he added.
In other mass transit initiatives, the study suggested restoration and extension of the SEPTA’s Route 23 trolley to provide service between the sports complex and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
In the long term, the planning commission is considering a light rail down Columbus Boulevard that would service the riverfront, sports complex and possibly even the redeveloping Navy Yard.
Comprehensive projects like these depend on regional transportation and the federal budget, among other factors, and will take 10 years or longer to develop, according to Jastrzab.
"The funding mechanisms have to be in place," the planner said, adding that changes are "not necessarily going to happen tomorrow."
Other possible improvements include widening the sidewalks on Pattison Avenue, and decorative signals to direct people and prevent them from darting across the parking lots and through traffic.
The study began in February, and was funded through a $53,000 federal grant award from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Transit Support Program.
The consultant team reviewed transit-industry trends, conducted on-site inspections of the Broad and Pattison subway station, the four stadiums and adjoining parking lots, interviewed officials representing the sports teams and surveyed sports complex patrons to find where they come from and how they get there. The study concluded in June.
