This week, The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC), in conjunction with the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (NLNA), unveiled the completion of the Spring Garden Connector Project.
Spring Garden Street between Delaware Avenue and 2nd Street used to be an uninviting, dimly-lit tunnel below an I-95 overpass and an elevated SEPTA train station. SEPTA bus stops adjacent to the SEPTA El entries were a dreary place to stand and wait. Today, the structure has been reimagined into the Spring Garden Connector, a bright, colorful pedestrian and vehicular underpass that links the up-and-coming Northern Liberties neighborhood with the Delaware River waterfront.
While the existing lighting provided adequate illumination for the roadway, the tunnel was an unappealing, cave-like environment for pedestrians. The Lighting Practice, working with Cloud Gehshan graphic designers, was tasked with providing a new visual experience for The Spring Garden Connector that welcomes and guides those entering and exiting the passage. Lighted portals now illuminate the entries to the SEPTA station, and colorful light is cast through suspended, metal graphics on the tunnel walls. Pre-programmed LED lighting follows the cycle of the sun as it rises and sets each day.
The color-changeable effects, artful graphics, and bright illumination has given the underpass a new and improved identity, transforming the experience for pedestrians, bus passengers, and subway riders.
Multiple Million Dollar Renovation Project Helps Brighten Up Popular SEPTA Stop
CBS Philly | December 20, 2016
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A once speedy subway station stop got a facelift.
The Connector Project at the 2nd and Spring Garden SEPTA station features center column lights and a new lighting system, all inside the massive formerly dimly lit viaduct and new sidewalks.
“This neighborhood has been separated from the waterfront for a long time. The new streetscaping improvements and this amazing new lighting program are all designed to make that connection seamless and have people just flow back and forth between the water and Northern Liberties,” said Tom Corcoran with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
Click here to read the full CBS Philly article.
