The city hopes for "transformative" solutions to reinvigorate the auto-centric parkway and create safer paths for people walking and biking.

Philadelphia is seeking proposals to redesign the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with a stronger focus on bike and pedestrian infrastructure, reports Ryan Briggs for WHYY. "The joint RFP, filed by the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Office of Transportation Infrastructure and Sustainability and the Mayor’s Fund, calls for a total redo of Eakins Oval –– including the removal of a surface parking lot –– and better infrastructure for public gatherings." City leaders want to make the space between Logan Circle and the Philadelphia Art Museum a more accessible, more usable "pedestrian-oriented civic space."
Similar projects have added "scattered—and sometimes temporary—improvements" along other stretches of the parkway, and officials hope the new project will unify what Parks and Rec Commissioner Kathryn Ott Lovell calls Philadelphia's "Champs-Élysées." The Parisian boulevard, in fact, heavily influenced the 1917 design for the Franklin Parkway. But the road has become increasingly hostile to pedestrians. "Subsequent redesigns grappled with a complex traffic pattern that included intersections with Kelly Drive, Martin Luther King Drive, the Spring Garden Bridge, and other city streets. The construction of interstates 76 and 676 in the later 20th century added dedicated highway ramp spurs along the southern portions of the Parkway, further complicating foot access."
With the project in its earliest stages, the city says it is "open to ambitious solutions" and hopes to see some "transformative ideas" for the historic roadway.
FULL STORY: Philly’s iconic Ben Franklin Parkway to get a major redesign

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

HSR Reaches Key Settlement in Northern California City
The state’s high-speed rail authority reached an agreement with Millbrae, a key city on the train’s proposed route to San Francisco.

Washington State Legislature Passes Parking Reform Bill
A bill that would limit parking requirements for new developments is headed to the governor’s desk.

Missouri Law Would Ban Protections for Housing Voucher Users
A state law seeks to overturn source-of-income discrimination bans passed by several Missouri cities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service