Aerial Photo of Reading Viaduct Gives Runners Something to Daydream About
Earlier this spring, on one of the first really warm days of the year, I was locking my bike up near the base of the Reading Viaduct, the foot of the planned Rail Park and the spot where a PHS pop-up beer garden sits now. As I looked up from my U-Lock, I spotted a runner casually squeeze through a hole in the fence to the elevated rail line, the length of which is currently overgrown with weeds, and keep on running. I thought, Man, that girl is really desperate to run somewhere besides the grey, concrete streets of Callowhill. But hey, we’ve all been there, right?
So when I woke up this morning and saw an awesome aerial photo of the Reading Viaduct — slated to make up a chunk of the planned Rail Park, a three-mile linear park currently in the fundraising phase — I began daydreaming, for myself and for this fellow runner, about green, red-light-free (weeds-free!) city runs along a transformed elevated rail line.
And this daydream could very well become a reality in the next couple of years: When Philly Mag’s Malcolm Burnley went on a tour of what is planned to be the Rail Park back in April, he was told that both the above-ground and below-ground portions (more on that here) of the park should have plenty of room for bike lanes and lanes for pedestrians and runners. So go ahead, fellow runners: Look at the photo below, taken by Kyle Huff, and daydream about the not-so-grey city runs in your future. (You can find more images of the planned park to fuel your daydreams here.)
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