Abandoned Railroad in Fox Chase Could Soon Be a Park Trail
Photo credit: Google Street View.
If you’ve ever walked by the Fox Chase Regional Rail Station in Northeast Philly, you may have noticed a long-abandoned railroad bed taking up precious space across from it. That site, we are now happy to report, might in due time breathe new life as a park trail.
The tracks, which were once a continuation of the Fox Chase-Newtown Line, stopped being used by SEPTA in the early ’80s. William Kenney at the Northeast Times now reports the Planning Commission has succeeded in acquiring grant funds to “study the conversion of SEPTA’s abandoned Fox Chase-Newtown Line into a park trail,” a part of which has already been repurposed as Lorimer Trail on the Montgomery County side.
The news, which included the Commission getting a second grant for another study that would look into putting sidewalks on the Rockwell-Hasbrook section of Oxford Avenue, was announced by local resident Chuck Tucker earlier this month during a Fox Chase Homeowners Association and Town Watch meeting,
According to Kenney, Tucker volunteers for the Philadelphia2035 project, the city’s long-term planning initiative, which involves studying and recommending viable community-requested development projects in Philadelphia.
A look at Phila2035’s Central Northeast District Plan (i.e. Fox Chase, Burholme, Rhawnhurst, Lexington, etc.) reveals a whole slew of proposed pedestrian improvements, public facilities, land use recommendations and more. You can read about other neighborhood plans to come at Philadelphia2035’s website here.
For further details about the Lorimer Trail extension, the next Fox Chase meeting will be on January 14th and include city planner Mike Thompson who will speak about Philadelphia2035. The meeting will take place at the American Legion Post 366 at 7976 Oxford Ave.
• Plans for Philadelphia2035 projects progress in Fox Chase [Northeast Times]
