March 11, 2024
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The Chinatown Stitch project calls for building two caps above I-676. The first cap would span 10th Street to a midway point between 11th and 12th streets and a second cap would be built between 12th and 13th streets. The project will be funded with a $158 million federal grant.
A $158 million federal grant has been approved for the Chinatown Stitch project, which will aim to reconnect the north and south sides of the neighborhood by capping two portions of the Vine Street Expressway. The construction of the highway in the 1960s carved Chinatown in two.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to cover the full cost of the project, state and local leaders said Monday. Construction could begin as soon as 2027. From that point, both caps could be completed within 4 to 5 years.
In December, planners selected a design that calls for two caps above I-676, which runs below the street level in Chinatown between Ninth and 12th streets. The caps would have a gap between them, enabling construction to be completed in phases.
The first cap would span the full block between 10th Street and a point midway between 11th and 12th streets. The second cap would be built between 12th and 13th streets. The project also will redesign Vine Street, which runs parallel to the expressway's north side, in an effort to improve road safety.
"Vine Street will continue to exist, but not as you see it today," John Chin, executive director of the nonprofit Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., said at a press conference. "There will be less lanes traveling, less speeding cars, more people and more activities."
In all, the two caps will create about 2 1/2 blocks at street level that will be used for new parks, buildings and other community amenities in Chinatown.
A diagram shows the proposed design of the two caps that would run between 10th and 13th streets, with a gap in between them.
"The Vine Street Expressway divides our Chinatown community," Chin said. "What (this project) means is that you will no longer see this division. You will not even notice that Chinatown is divided by a large, wide, broad boulevard."
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said it will correct the "harmful infrastructure decisions" of decades past that left Chinatown disconnected and introduced quality of life issues. Mayor Cherelle Parker called the grant an example of the kind of intergovernmental cooperation she hopes will be a hallmark of her administration.
The grant funding comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The next stages of the project will be preliminary design and engineering.
The project seeks to better link the neighborhood to existing green spaces, including the Rail Park and Franklin Square. Reconfiguring Vine Street also will make the neighborhood more navigable for pedestrians and cyclists.
Chinatown Stitch will be the second highway cap project undertaken in Philadelphia. Construction began last year on the $329 million project to replace and expand the covered section of I-95 that runs along the Delaware River waterfront at Penn's Landing. That project will create an 11 1/2-acre park that extends over I-95 and Columbus Boulevard, spanning from Chestnut Street to Walnut Street.
The funding for Chinatown Stitch comes amid uncertainty over the Philadelphia 76ers' plan to build a new arena that would replace a portion of the Fashion District mall on East Market Street. The team's proposal, which includes a residential tower, would abut the southern boundary of Chinatown, where there has been tension over its potential impacts on residents and businesses and questions about how it will benefit the community.
The city has not yet released its commissioned impact studies on the 76ers' arena proposal, an important step before legislation for the project is introduced in City Council. If the arena plan moves forward, it would be built during the same timeframe as Chinatown Stitch, with a goal for the team to play there in 2031.
