Reading Viaduct
Reading Viaduct / The Rail Park | |
---|---|
public park | |
Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Coordinates | 39°57′36″N 75°09′32″W / 39.96°N 75.159°W |
Opened | June 14, 2018 |
Status | Open |
The Reading Viaduct, also called The Rail Park, is a disused elevated rail line in the Callowhill district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States that has been partly transformed into a rail trail.
In 2010, the Center City District and a new community organization, Friends of the Rail Park, began to evaluate options to convert the abandoned viaduct into an elevated park.[1][2]
On October 31, 2016, construction began on the plan's Phase 1, which added a boardwalk, benches, landscaping, and swings along a quarter-mile (400-meter) section of the viaduct from Broad Street to Callowhill Street;[3] it also reinforced the existing 13th street bridge.[4] The Phase 1 section opened to the public on June 14, 2018.[5][6]
History
The Philadelphia and Reading Terminal Railroad was incorporated on April 13, 1888, leased by the
The viaduct was built by the Reading Company as an approach to the new Reading Terminal.[8]
The viaduct heads north from Reading Terminal and at Callowhill Junction, forks, with
Approaches
Ninth Street Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The main line of the
The passenger station was later moved to half a block east of Broad Street, on the old freight line. The spur from the new viaduct was later built from the line just east of this station.
The other Reading line, originally the
See also
- 30th Street Station
- Chinese Wall
- High Line, a converted elevated line in New York City
- Bloomingdale Trail, a converted elevated line in Chicago
- Dequindre Cut, a converted below-grade line in Detroit
References
- ^ "Rail Park". centercityphila.org. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
- ^ Patten, Zach (2013-09-13). "Rally for the Rail Park to Fundraise for Philly's Own High Line". Curbed Philly. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
- ^ "The Park | Friends of the Rail Park". Friends of the Rail Park. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
- ^ "The long-awaited Rail Park is finally here". Curbed Philly. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
- ^ "Long-awaited Rail Park opens first phase". Curbed Philly. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
- ^ "Rail Park". readingviaduct.org. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
- ^ Reading Terminal, Philadelphia
- ^ Pruden, Scott (October 26, 2018). "Philadelphia's new Rail Park is the city's answer to Manhattan's High Line". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
- ISBN 0-9620844-1-7.