Both residents and business owners in the vicinity of 34th Street oppose the Above Ground Subway. They know that a bus transitway killed Chestnut Street, Philadelphia’s destination shopping street.
According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, “Since it opened, many of the businesses along Chestnut Street have closed, and the atmosphere of many blocks has taken on a desolate, even dangerous, feel. Where there was once a row of upscale retailers… there is now a proliferation of dollar stores and check-cashing houses. Homeless seek out benches and vents on the street.”
Not until Philadelphia was able to restore a traffic mix did the street revive – and to close the transitway took 20 years because it was a federal project (just like the 34th Street Transitway!).
“We killed a major artery,” said a city councilman. “Why would you want to eliminate vehicles at one of the busiest intersections of the city? ...It’s intimidating. We put these enormous buses there and expect people to think it’s Mayberry."
For the full story go to:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/1997/08/11/story3.html