Walnut St Bridge Enhancements

The former roadway configuration of the Walnut Street Bridge had four wide traffic lanes, a bike lane and two eight-foot sidewalks. Adjustments were considered to meet the heavy pedestrian and bicycle use of this crossing. PennDOT and the Philadelphia Streets Department supported this initiative. Detailed traffic analyses determined that reducing the number of lanes from four to three and decreasing the lane widths would allow for 12-foot sidewalks while calming traffic. Designs also called for replacing the large, overhead I-76 signs with smaller signs placed on poles at the sides of the roadway to make the bridge feel less like a highway. Conflict between bicycles and auto traffic at Schuylkill Avenue was minimized. These changes, completed in August 2012, have created a safer facility that encourages a symbiotic relationship with all bridge users.

Project Team

Design of this project was completed by Michael Baker Engineers with landscape design completed by  Lager, Raabe, Skafte Landscape Architects. Construction was completed by Crossing Construction. The project received funding from the Federal Highway Administration's Transportation Improvements Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program and a federal earmark grant.