Design Profile: Roosevelt Boulevard Route for Change

Few roads are as iconic and vital, yet complex, as Roosevelt Boulevard. The 14-mile project includes an extensive number of interim improvements to make it safe, accessible, and reliable for all users, especially for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

The width and length of Roosevelt Boulevard provides the opportunity to make interim landscape improvements that will enhance the experience of its multi-modal travelers and strengthen the Boulevard’s aesthetics. Both the original concept of the Boulevard as a parkway and the program’s recommendations share the vision that a well-designed roadway can be an asset to communities, not a divisive force. The Boulevard’s medians create a unique opportunity to incorporate public art that would be accessible to a wide audience in a meaningful way. They also presents an opportunity to create a more ecologically responsible Boulevard through its landscape planting.

For Roosevelt Boulevard to welcome every mode of travel and bolster the social and economic vibrancy of 20 neighboring communities, a long-term transformation is necessary. The program developed two alternatives for the project partners to further analyze and explore with neighborhood stakeholders. The alternatives include a partially capped expressway and a neighborhood boulevard. There are four key building blocks common to both alternatives that would give people more effective options when traveling along the Boulevard:

1.          Reduced Posted Speed Limits;

2.          Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in dedicated lanes;

3.          Two-Way Cycle Tracks; and

4.          Widened and Continuous Sidewalks.

Both alternatives offer paths toward improving access across the Boulevard by reducing the number of lanes. Currently, the Boulevard is typically at-grade and 12 lanes wide. The partially capped expressway includes four below-grade expressway lanes and four at-grade local (outer) lanes. The neighborhood boulevard includes six at-grade general-purpose lanes. The program also envisioned transit-oriented land uses surrounding the BRT stations for both alternatives.

Project: Roosevelt Boulevard Route for Change

Location: Philadelphia PA

Client: City of Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability

Project Size: 14 miles

Project Team:

HTNB (Project Management, Visioning, Planning, and Modeling)

Ground Reconsidered (Landscape Architecture and Streetscape)

Toole Design Group (Bicycle Network Planning)

Portfolio Associates (Traffic Engineering)