Parker unveils $11.5M ‘gateway’ project to beautify areas around major Philly highways ahead of 250th celebrations

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Philadelphia aims to roll out the red carpet for hundreds of thousands of visitors coming to the city this year to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. The city has teamed up with the state and other partners for a multimillion-dollar “Gateway to the City” project that will clean up and improve key access points into the city.

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the plan at City Hall on Friday morning, saying the project is part of her plans to improve cleanliness to fulfill her campaign promise.

Parker said the goal of the project is for “people to feel the sense of hope, pride and dignity that we have about being one Philly, a united city, so that they can be inspired to think about our country as one America, a united nation.”

The project will include graffiti abatement, gardening and landscape work and the addition of a series of murals. One of the murals will be  250th-themed work on the CSX bridge wall abutting I-76 at Spring Garden Street, a space that has been the canvas for graffiti artists for decades.

The targeted list of priority locations includes:

• 26th Street Gateway at Penrose Avenue.
• South Street Bridge, walls, medians and on/off-ramps.
• 30th Street Station walls, medians and ramps.
• I-76 and I-676 interchange at 15th and 16th streets and Vine Street.
• I-76 and I-676 interchange at 6th and 8th streets and Callowhill/Vine streets.
• I-76 and I-95 interchange at 2nd and 3rd streets and Callowhill/Vine streets.
• CSX/Amtrak wall at Spring Garden Street

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” said Carlton Williams, who leads the city’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. “This is an opportunity to shine on the biggest stage.”

In addition to events directly celebrating America’s 250th, the city will also host a number of high-profile events including World Cup Games and the MLB All-Star Game. The city is expected to spend more than $125 million on preparing and celebrating the milestone.

“It’s about bringing people together via unified landscaping, thoughtful design, and public art investments around our major highways and intersections to increase civic pride, stimulate tourism, and quite frankly, support workforce and economic development,” Parker said.

Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said the state is supportive of the city’s effort, as it also helps Pittsburgh with money to support the NFL Draft and other events in western Pennsylvania this year.

“I want to tell you one of the most important things that I’ve learned since I became secretary of transportation, and that is, first impressions are key. Especially ahead of one of the commonwealth’s biggest years,” Carroll said.

The beautification effort is already underway, with crews planting 95,000 plant bulbs that will bloom in the spring.

“This project is about elevating people’s experience, perception and expectations of Philadelphia, whether they live here or whether they’re visiting for the first time,” said Matt Rader, president of the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society. “These highways are some of our most frequently used civic spaces and so how we treat them says something about our values and what we expect of ourselves in our city.”

The gateways will be decked out in “ribbons of gold” according to Parker, which she said is inspired by “the golden palette of flowers that you will see brighten and transform these gateways.”

There will also be painting of walls in a gold color and an extended mural visible from the Schuylkill Expressway that will have a Philly-250 theme.

The estimated total cost of the plan is currently at $11.5 million from city, state and philanthropic funding to support project installation and long-term maintenance. The effort is part of a public-private cooperative with the Pew Charitable Trust, the Neubauer Family Foundation, the Connelly Foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation, the Hamilton Family Foundation and the Funder Collaborative.

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Editor’s Note: The Neubauer Family Foundation, the Connelly Foundation, the Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative and the Philadelphia Foundation have supported WHYY. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey.