Roosevelt Boulevard subway proposal gains momentum — but not money — at Philly City Council hearing

Momentum continued to build for the proposal to connect Northeast Philadelphia and Lower Bucks County to the rest of the city and region by a subway along Roosevelt Boulevard during a hearing convened by Philadelphia City Council on Wednesday.

More than half a dozen state and city officials, transit experts, and residents voiced their support of the 12-mile, 12-stop project, which would link Broad Street to Neshaminy Road.

During the three-hour committee hearing, they touted the potential positive impact on the city’s economy, environment, and union construction jobs that would come from connecting the Northeast and its 500,000 residents to the rest of Philadelphia.

Residents testified about long, arduous commutes navigating Roosevelt Boulevard — one of the nation’s deadliest urban roadways — and feeling disconnected from the rest of the city, while others pointed out that the subway, an extension of the Broad Street Line, could bring more people from Center City to experience the restaurants, businesses, and culture the diverse Northeast has to offer.

“This project is a referendum on our city and our commonwealth,” said Councilmember Mike Driscoll, who represents the 6th District, which includes the Northeast. He called for the committee hearing to explore how local, state, and federal governments could make the project happen. “Is this a place that cowers in the face of challenging opportunities? Or is this a place that sees the future coming and charges at it at full speed?”

The long-discussed subway proposal — which was brought to Philadelphia Mayor Rudolph Blankenburg in 1913 — has garnered new interest in recent years, and particularly after the June collapse of the I-95 bridge in the Northeast, which sent residents scrambling for alternative ways to commute to Center City.

This week, PennDot also shared plans to evaluate the feasibility of several new alternatives for improving Roosevelt Boulevard, three of which include a subway line.

Following the hearing, Jay Arzu, the University of Pennsylvania doctoral student who has championed the subway, said the importance of Wednesday’s meeting, arguably the proposal’s largest stage thus far, “was one word: unity.”

“It showed that our chambers of commerce, our unions, our policymakers, and our communities can united behind this project,” he said.

But, as support for the subway builds, one question looms large: how to pay for it.

A 2003 study presented to the city and SEPTA by six engineering and design firms approximated that the subway extension would cost about $3 billion, and would take 10 years to build.

A 2021 Route for Change report — prepared by the city, SEPTA, and PennDot — recommended creating separate lanes for rapid bus transit by 2040. It offered two alternative designs for Roosevelt Boulevard: a $10.8 billion partially capped expressway with dedicated rapid bus lanes, protected bike lanes, and local traffic on the surface; and a $1.9 billion plan with bus lanes, flex lanes to be used at times for on-street parking, and bike lanes.

New details from PennDot show the agency likely plans to also consider a partially capped expressway with a subway, as well as a neighborhood boulevard with a subway, light rail, or bus rapid transit.

But even if PennDot winds up recommending the subway, the project would still have to check required regulatory boxes — which could take years — before it received a cent of funding.

That includes a years-long environmental impact study and vetting by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of projected ridership and benefits of the subway to qualify it for money from Washington. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission also would have to list it among the region’s transportation priorities for federal infrastructure dollars.

It’s not an easy process. Earlier this year, SEPTA pulled the plug on its long-planned expansion of rail service to King of Prussia after the FTA decided it would not serve enough riders to justify the cost of building it. PennDot is still evaluating how many riders would be affected by a potential Roosevelt Boulevard subway, Jennifer Dougherty, manager of long-range planning at SEPTA, said Wednesday. The 2003 report estimated the subway would serve nearly 125,000 riders per day.

SEPTA says it is already strapped and facing a fiscal crisis with COVID relief funding ending and a projected annual $240 million deficit in its operating budget beginning next year.

Beyond that, it has a backlog of about $5 billion in needed repairs and maintenance of assets it already has.

“The money just has to come from somewhere, and we should be sober about that,” said Christopher Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives with the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability.

The office is “broadly supportive” of the subway idea, but the capital costs needed will be “larger than anything this region has seen,” and constructing the project will take years, Puchalsky said. In the meantime, he said, stakeholders should consider investing in short-term traffic safety and other improvements to better the thoroughfare.

Over the years, the plan has been considered and dismissed, largely because of the cost. But lately, the idea appears to have gained traction at the local and state level, despite SEPTA’s financial hardship and competition over the federal infrastructure funding.

Recently, some advocates have proposed financing the project via tolls collected from motorists in the boulevard’s express lanes.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering two bills that would authorize cities and counties to increase some fees and taxes to raise money for regional transit systems to spend on capital projects. They are sponsored by Reps. Joe Hohenstein and Ben Waxman, both Philadelphia Democrats. Last week, the Pennsylvania House passed the tax code bill to increase funding for transit operations.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Hohenstein encouraged the other lawmakers to convince their colleagues in Harrisburg that the Roosevelt Boulevard subway “isn’t just good for Philly, it’s good for the rest of the state as well.”

Previously, SEPTA chief executive Leslie S. Richards said the agency saw “no way forward” on the proposed Roosevelt Boulevard subway, citing an estimated cost of at least $7 billion and SEPTA’s tight budget.

But in August, SEPTA appeared open to the plan, using the subway extension as an example of why the agency needs sustained support from Philadelphia and its collar counties.

On Wednesday, Dougherty called the council committee hearing an important step.

“We welcome any opportunity to advance initiatives that will put more people on SEPTA, and explore opportunities to expand service.”