May 8: Ben Franklin Bridge bike ramp | Zoo unveils cat walk | Artist chalks up climate change | Germantown faces school sales | SEPTA driver, mechanics win big
Good morning, Eyes on the Street!
A Delaware River Port Authority committee approved a plan for a single-slope bicycle and pedestrian ramp on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin Bridge. If the board approves the $2.9 million plan at its next meeting on May 21, the final design will be completed this year, and the ramp will be built next year, The Inquirer reports. The ramp will replace the 39 steep, narrow steps on the Camden side of the pedestrian walkway.
Yesterday, the Philadelphia Zoo unveiled Big Cat Crossing – an elevated steel tube that lets tigers and other “big cats” travel beyond their former exhibit limits. The $2.3 million crossing is the result of significant planning the zoo has undertaken and a larger effort to allow more animals flexible roaming options. The Inquirer has more.
Philadelphia artist Eve Mosher has drawn a thick, four-mile-long chalk line through Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond to show what areas would be flooded by a 10-foot storm surge. The project aims to take climate change, which can seem theoretical, and represent it in a more direct and personal way. Check out this video by Newsworks of Mosher’s project in action.
Want to buy Germantown High School and Fulton Elementary? The two are selling for $3.3 million and $1.25 million, respectively. Newsworks reports on the community’s efforts to ensure something positive happens with the properties and on the logistics of the sale. A series of two-a-day open houses for potential buyers of all 20 School District buildings up for sale will be held beginning May 19.
A SEPTA bus driver and three mechanics won the Grand Champion Award at the 2014 International Bus Roadeo – an American Public Transportation Association competition. SEPTA’s team achieved overall top scores in the contest, which tests bus operators’ driving skills and mechanics’ abilities to troubleshoot and fix problems. This is the second year in a row that SEPTA’s team has taken top honors.
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