Rendering of the 30th Street Station Plaza redesign concept.

At a public Open House held earlier this month at 30th Street Station, Amtrak presented its design concept for Station Plaza, one of the more visible projects of the widely publicized 30th Street Station District Plan.

Information boards were available at the Open House to help the public better understand the vision of the District Plan and Station Plaza design concepts. The public had an opportunity to fill out a station plaza survey. Those who didn’t attend the Open House but want to provide their feedback on the project can do so through an online survey.

But here’s what you need to do first: Learn about the station plaza concept. Click HERE to view the eight information boards that were on display at the July 12, 2017 Open House.  Continue Reading

The public has been an integral part of the 30th Street Station District Plan, a joint master planning effort to develop a comprehensive vision for the future of the station and the surrounding area, which began in January 2015 with the first public open house at the station. On Wednesday, May 18, community members are invited to the final open house, where you can review the Draft Plan and discuss it with the project team before they start working on the Final Plan.

The plan will provide a vision for approximately 35-year-long development of the 30th Street Station area. The draft plan was released in March and includes such proposals as building a new urban residential neighborhood and park, new bridges, a new intercity bus terminal, and more. According to the draft plan, the first phase of the development would include remodeling of the station.

The open house will be held from 4 – 7 p.m. at 30th Street Station (30th and Market), in the North Waiting Room (behind Amtrak ticket office). The draft plan and renderings can also be viewed here.

A draft plan has just been released summarizing the two-year joint planning process as part of a long-range re-development of the station and its surrounding area (30th Street Station District Plan). The plan will be presented today (Wednesday, March 16), from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at an open house, which will take place at the station (behind the Amtrak ticket office).

The draft plan pinpoints several key development areas, including remodeling and enhancements to the station and building a new urban neighborhood with “a healthy balance of residential buildings, station-anchored commercial office towers, and retail, recreational, and cultural amenities to sustain a 24/7 environment.”

The plan also proposes a new expansive park, two new pedestrian and bicycle bridges over the Schuylkill river and both vehicular and pedestrian bridges across Powelton Yard to the west, a new intercity bus terminal, and reopening the tunnel connecting 30th Street Station to SEPTA’s subway and trolley station.  Continue Reading

Do you think there should be a better connection of the Market-Frankford Line or trolleys to 30th Street Station? Should there be an intercity bus station there?

An example of proposed improvements near 30th Street Station (click to enlarge).

Here’s a chance to provide your input on the plan to further transform the area around 30th Street Station by participating in an online survey about potential transportation and infrastructure changes.

You might want to have a look at the current state of the project before you fill out the survey, which is located here. Here is an overview video of the planning process.

The survey includes images of the feedback exercise during a public meeting on Dec. 16, 2015. For additional details about the Draft Physical Framework, feel free to view the Draft Physical Framework Report by clicking here and check out project overview video.

The survey will be open until 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 15, 2016.

The planning process focused on creating a single integrated vision for the area surrounding 30th Street Station continues this Wednesday with an open house. The 30th Street Station District Plan project team will present refined design ideas for the area.

The open house will be held from 4 – 7 p.m. at the station, behind the Amtrak ticket office.

More than 200 people attended the open house on June 17 to learn about and provide feedback on three preliminary concepts for the 30th Street Station District in the year 2040. The concepts are divided into three themes:

• “Central Business District 2,” a new central business district.

• “Schuylkill Crossing,” a new urban neighborhood.

• “Innovation City,” which hooks in with nearby universities, mainly Drexel.

Nearly 1,400 comments were received at the June open house and from an online survey that was posted on the District Plan website. The summary report is available here.

The 30th Street Station District Plan is a joint planning effort led by Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, PennDOT and SEPTA with support from a wide range of public and private agencies, area stakeholders and other interested parties. For more information, visit: http://www.phillydistrict30.com/.