SugarHouse neighborhood has become one huge work zone

The area around the SugarHouse Casino site, from Delaware Avenue to the Delaware River, is a beehive of new construction, sewer remediation and street closures as about 500 workers who have have been toiling at the site in two, eight-hour shifts per day, race to make a deadline that would allow slots and table games to be in operation by the end of summer.

On the SugarHouse front, the big box casino is looking more complete, with a promenade that will be open to the public going in at the Delaware River side of the complex. A multi-purpose trail along the waterfront will allow residents to walk from SugarHouse to Penn Treaty Park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKudNxpGldU

Meanwhile, in front of the casino Water Department workers are laying down a parallel sewer system to the existing one to handle storm surges. The narrow configuration of the streets makes adding additional sewer capacity difficult.

This phase, which will switch in a few weeks to the other side of Delaware Avenue, should be completed in August. Work will then proceed deeper into the neighborhood, with the project scheduled for completion during fiscal year 2015.

Because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will be closing the Girard Avenue Bridge during its Interstate 95 restoration project, SEPTA is constructing a new turnback loop for the trolley along Delaware Avenue, near the casino.

Trolley service along Richmond Street will be halted for about two years during construction, and SEPTA will provide shuttle bus service to the Girard Avenue El stop. Construction of the new trolley tracks to Delaware Avenue is scheduled to begin in July and last three months, with several neighborhood parking spots being lost to allow trolleys and shuttle buses to turn properly.

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