Balancing Federal Funding, Equity and Urban River Access

As U.S. cities strive to reconnect to their once-vibrant natural rivers and waterways, federal grants are available to build active transportation networks using older, industrial corridors. Philadelphia began planning the North Delaware Greenway, a connected ribbon of parks and trails along an industrial corridor, more than 25 years ago. Today, it is almost complete. Using a public-private partnership, Philadelphia leaders and the local metropolitan planning organization worked with nonprofit foundations and organizations to realize a vision by using federal grants and a mix of state, local, and private funding.

Active-transportation funding is available via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to reconnect urban communities like Philadelphia and provide equitable access to transportation, parks, and natural areas. In this presentation, transportation planners discuss practical applications with representatives from the city, MPO, and geographically based nonprofits. Their in-depth discussion reveals how they worked together to renew vibrancy along the industrial Delaware River’s shipping channel. Now there is a way for Philadelphia’s River Ward and North Delaware neighborhoods to reconnect to nature and each other by developing a key portion of the East Coast Greenway in Philadelphia: the North Delaware Greenway.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Intermediate. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.