Philly’s Chinatown Stitch getting $159M federal grant

What to Know

A $158.9 million federal grant will go toward seeing through the Chinatown Stitch plan.
"The Chinatown Stitch: Reconnecting Philadelphia to Vine Street is a study to cap the Vine Street Expressway between Broad Street and 8th Street to reconnect Chinatown and Chinatown North," the City of Philadelphia says on its website.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-02) and Rep. Dwight Evans (PA-03) will join Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation executive director John Chin announced the grant Monday.

One of the big plans to cover highways in Philadelphia is getting a big boost thanks to a nearly $159 million federal grant, according to public officials.

"We're here today to announce funding to reconnect Chinatown decades after Chinatown residents suffered the consequences of harmful infrastructure decisions that divided their neighborhood," U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D- PA) said at a Monday news conference.

For decades the Vine Street Expressway (Interstate 676) has cut Philadelphia's Chinatown in half. The Chinatown Stitch looks to pull the neighborhood back together.

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"The Chinatown Stitch: Reconnecting Philadelphia to Vine Street is a study to cap the Vine Street Expressway between Broad Street and 8th Street to reconnect Chinatown and Chinatown North," the City of Philadelphia says on its website.

A new project by local high schoolers is highlighting the hidden stories of the place they call home. The project features portraits on red boards in Chinatown showcasing the everyday people who live, work and hangout in the neighborhood. NBC10's Karen Hua takes us on a walk through history.

On Monday morning, Bob Casey joined fellow Democratic politicians U.S. Sen. U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Dwight Evans: and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker along with Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation executive director John Chin to announce "announce a massive federal funding award for the Chinatown Stitch project," according to Casey's office.

Chin said the PCDC and Chinatown community were "grateful for your unwavering support" and "awestruck" by the federal funding.

Chinatown Stitch to cover I-676, reconnect neighborhood

The new federal funding should cover costs for the entire project, officials said.

There has been no groundbreaking on this project to date, but the city previously came up with a basic game plan.

The City and its partners considered three concepts that all included capping I-676 with green space. Ultimately a Two-Block Concept prevailed that adds caps for the full block between 10th and 11th Streets, and 12th and 13th Streets. There is an open gap between 11th and 12th Streets, which allows for required ventilation for the expressway.

The two block cap concept for Philadelphia's Chinatown includes A) active spaces along north-south cross streets, B) a potential rail park connection, C) a removed sound barrier wall for wider sidewalks, D) an improved key intersection and E) an exploration into improved pedestrian connection. — The two-block cap concept for Philadelphia's Chinatown includes A) active spaces along north-south cross streets, B) a potential rail park connection, C) a removed sound barrier wall for wider sidewalks, D) an improved key intersection and E) an exploration into improved pedestrian connection.

At Monday's announcement, officials displayed the Two-Block Concept drawings. The current plan includes a park over top the busy Vine Street Expressway.

NBC10's Randy Gyllenhaal talks to a business owner in Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood about the plan to cap the Vine Street Expressway to reconnect the community. See what the park over the highway would look like.

"The Chinatown Stitch project seeks to cover the existing below-grade Vine Street Expressway from 10^th Street to 13^th Street, providing greater connectivity between the Chinatown neighborhood that spans both sides of the highway," Casey's office said in a news release. "Beyond covering the highway, the project will consist of greenspace on top of the cover, which may be complemented by traffic calming along the local Vine Street travel lanes, improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure on Vine Street adjacent to the cover, among other possible features and improvements."

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Don't expect to see heavy construction equipment out there just yet.

The preliminary design and engineering stages are expected to continue through 2025, City officials previously said. "If funding is received, the City anticipates that construction could start as early as 2027."