Philadelphia's Green Corridor Projects Aim to Boost Walkability and Connectivity

Key facts

• AveArts 2.0 is a $150 million multiyear plan led by Gensler and OJB to transform South Broad Street (Avenue of the Arts) from City Hall to Washington Avenue, modeled after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
• Phase 1A of AveArts 2.0 opened in June, testing the design vision by isolating the median as the core boulevard expression before splitting the work into two phases.
• The Market East Revival project received a $1.85 million city grant for new bus shelters, transit headhouses, trees, murals, lighting, and plantings coordinated by the Center City District, and $2.5 million in federal grant funds released in July for planning and public engagement.
• The $16 million Market Street Old City Improvement Project, led by Urban Engineers with landscape architecture by Ground Reconsidered, opened to the public this June after beginning construction in 2024.
• The Washington Avenue Connector, a $9.5 million project commissioned by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and designed by Andropogon, started in April 2025 and is slated to open this fall.
• Penn's Landing Park is part of the $329 million Interstate 95 Central Access Philadelphia (CAP) Project, which began construction in 2023; the highway cap is expected to be completed in 2029, with the park opening by 2030.
• Hargreaves Jones is responsible for the site plan, grading, and green space configuration for the 11.5-acre cap park.
• The South Street Pedestrian Bridge extension over Columbus Boulevard, part of the CAP Project and designed by Hill International, is slated to open in 2027 and will be installed overnight using trucks to roll it across the six-lane highway onto pre-installed piers.