The Pulaski Expressway (or alternatively the Tacony Expressway or Tacony Creek Parkway) was a proposed expressway to have been given the designation Pennsylvania Route 90. It was proposed by the Regional Planning Federation (the predecessor agency to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission) around 1932 to have been a parkway built similar to Moses parkways in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The highway was to have been routed through
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
and was to have been divided into three sections.
Route description
The Pulaski Expressway was to begin at an interchange with
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
and the
Betsy Ross Bridge
The Betsy Ross Bridge, also known as the Ross Memorial Bridge, is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, du ...
in
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...
, where the road continues into
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
as
Route 90. The freeway was to continue north through residential and industrial areas before passing through
Tacony Creek Park. The Pulaski Expressway would continue north to its terminus at an interchange with
US 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
(
Roosevelt Boulevard).
[
]
History
In 1932, the Regional Planning Federation (the predecessor agency to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission) proposed the Tacony Creek Parkway to run along the Tacony Creek; however, this was never built. In 1947, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission proposed the Tacony Expressway through Northeast Philadelphia, which was to run from the Delaware Expressway northwest to PA 309 (former US 309, Fort Washington Expressway) at the border of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, interchanging with US 1 (Roosevelt Boulevard). Construction of the Delair Bridge (Betsy Ross Bridge) across the Delaware River was approved in 1964, with the Tacony Expressway planned to connect to the new bridge. In 1966, the routing of the Tacony Expressway was modified to follow Adams Avenue instead of passing through Tacony Creek Park. At the time, the freeway was to cost $56 million and be completed in 1971.
The Tacony Expressway was renamed to the Pulaski Expressway in 1969. In 1971, a route farther from Adams Avenue was selected to avoid displacing residents and businesses. The routing had several alternatives including aligning with Adams Avenue (cutting through cemeteries or avoiding them), go through Tacony Creek Park, using the Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly calle ...
spur east of Adams Avenue, or cutting through Simpson Memorial Park
Simpson most often refers to:
* Simpson (name), a British surname
*''The Simpsons'', an animated American sitcom
**The Simpson family, central characters of the series ''The Simpsons''
Simpson may also refer to:
Organizations Schools
*Simpso ...
. At this time, the Pulaski Expressway north of US 1 was canceled.Milton Shapp
Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. H ...
and PennDOT
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...
. In 1976, the Betsy Ross Bridge opened to traffic, with ramps to connect to the Pulaski Expressway. The Pulaski Expressway was canceled by 1980 due to community opposition and financial troubles.
See also
*
*
*
References
{{reflist
External links
The Roads of Metro Philadelphia: Pulaski Expressway (PA 90) (unbuilt)
Cancelled highway projects in the United States