Should the Broad Street Line be extended to the Navy Yard?
As the Navy Yard’s plans for expansion continue, including for the potential of eventually living there, changes in transportation options are being discussed.
A group of politicians recently spoke in favor of the Broad Street Line being extended farther south to service the Navy Yard.
A previous study predicted that an extension of the subway service would cost around $370 million.
More from PlanPhilly:
The arguments in favor of extending the BSL to the Navy Yard are mainly economic and logistical. Grady said extending mass transit would allow for even more jobs to be located there. Currently, there are around 11,500 jobs at the Navy Yard. Today, Grady said he hoped to one-day see 40,000 – the 2013 Master Plan projected just 30,000. At it’s peak when it operated as a naval shipbuilding base, the Navy Yard had around 47,000 employees working there, who mainly drove. Today, rush hour traffic there is congested, and it will only get worse.
Grady pointed to the Navy Yard Shuttle as proof that the Navy Yard needs mass transit. Since it’s start, ridership on the shuttle, which runs a Center City loop making two stops on Market Street and then throughout the Navy Yard and another loop to-and-from AT&T Station near Pattison Avenue, has risen 400 percent to around 2,000 riders per day, said Grady. The implication: even more would use the subway.
Of course, those figures may be a bit inflated compared to the subway: the Navy Yard Shuttle is free.
The argument against extending the BSL is equally simple: It will be very expensive. In March, PIDC officials told PlanPhilly they use $500 million to ballpark the costs of an extension. Federal funds could cover about half of that, with the rest coming from state, local and private sources.
Yes!! I would like to use the new Jefferson Medical Center in the Navy Yard, but without a car, it’s difficult. I think it would be great for South Philly for the subway to go to all the way to the Navy Yard.
You could get off at AT& T station and take the free shuttle to the navy yard. It loops around the navy yard from AT&T and the other shuttle (also free) starts in center city.
Having a subway stop at the Navy Yard Is a great idea — would also like to see a stop at Packer Avenue —
Packer Ave?? You can see Packer Ave from the stop at Oregon Ave.
You can also see City Hall…
A station at Packer Ave. would be about half as from from Oregon as Oregon is from Synder. I think you might be asking for a bit much, given how far from the density of Center City this area is.
The free shuttle is a helpful service but ultimately would suffer from the same congestion and difficulties as any other vehicle when attempting to leave or enter the site during peak periods and under higher build out conditions. The shuttle would also have to navigate any potential congestion along Broad Street during events which happen with some frequency. Extending the mass transit service is the best solution.
How many parking spaces will this take away?
@Parking Police – you need to go away. Antagonist fool!
Through the magic or replacing single passenger cars with subway trips, it will create parking spaces.
Yes, extend the subway public transit system to include service to the new businesses if it has ridership income that can justify the cost of its construction.
It’s a great idea and something that should have been done decades ago. It could have been done when the new stadium was being built.