The 15

The 15 is Philadelphia’s only active fully surface trolley route. It runs from the Port Richmond loop, along Port Richmond Avenue about a quarter mile inland of the Tioga Marine Terminal down aforesaid avenue to I-95’s Girard Avenue exit, where it then turns onto Girard and crosses 95; it runs down Girard through Fishtown, the Northern Liberties, Ludlow, past the old Allen homes, and on into Francisville and Fairmount before it crosses the Schuylkill and thence past the Zoo into Parkside towards Mantua on into the no-man’s-land of far West Philly (or: my excuse as to why I haven’t taken it west beyond Parkside and Girard.) Along this route it crosses the (inactive) 23’s trolley tracks (at 11^th and 12^th), an inactive route running along 40^th, another one heading up Parkside, the 10 at Lancaster, and IIRC another one elsewhere in West Philly.

When trolley service along the 15 was restored, it was done in the most inept way possible. There are portions of the route (e.g. Port Richmond Avenue) which are so narrow as to make roadway and trolleyway right-of-way (or ROW from now on) separation impossible; this is a major issue with the 23, where Germantown Avenue only has two travel lanes frequented by six lanes’ worth of traffic and has been one of several impediments to service restoration there; however, along Girard between 95 and Broad, Girard (and consequently the 15) enjoys some of the most generous right-of-way in the city. Yet even here the roadway impinges, as left-turn lanes and inner lanes commonly share space with trolley ROW. From Broad west to the Schuylkill, Girard narrows again; west of it, it becomes (again) a wide road at least so far as Parkside Avenue; it is in this portion that the 15 enjoys its most total ROW separation, as no traffic is allowed in the trolley lanes between Parkside and 34^th and there are no traffic markings in them to vindicate drivers. This should be the case along all of Girard where there is space for a traffic lane without impinging on trolley ROW.

From 34^th to Broad things get tricky. The road narrows into two traffic-trolley lanes and two parking lanes throughout. Where speed is enjoyed crossing the Schuylkill delay is the most common experience here. West of Girard, along the business corridor, this is no big deal, as the delay is accompanied by the beneficial experience of window-shopping, but east of it, in the more residential Francisville district, this delay can become wholly irritating. Worse, here it is unwarranted. The sidewalks along this part of Girard are exceedingly wide for the traffic generated, and a great deal of traffic winds up being rerouted onto Poplar due to the confusing traffic layout just west of Girard College. Thus neither Girard nor Poplar in Francisville take the full brunt of arterial traffic load, but instead both take about half the load—at least until drivers figure out they’re on the wrong street.

In Francisville, this can be exploited to both a) fully grade-separate the 15 and b) spur development along Poplar east of Ridge. By redirecting through traffic down Poplar—since most through traffic here is through to Broad and not 95, as Broad is the traffic pump into and out of Center City in this area—and local traffic down Girard, we reduce Girard’s traffic load. By removing about a third of the current sidewalk for parking (not traffic) lanes, we can separate the trolley ROW from the roadway. And lastly, by condensing the trolley stops to just three—at Ridge, at St. Joe’s Hospital, and orienting them in the same way the Zoo stop already is, we can fit two carstops into an area where street width only apparently offers one (and even then that is gained by eliminating the parking lanes by the stops). Where Girard meets broad the built environment disallows any modification on the current eastbound lanes by sidewalk removal, but in this block an advantageous built environment (the Checkers) on the northbound side makes for some very interesting options. My suggestion in this debate would be to—realign the eastbound tracks to make the curb the carstop (that is, move them about ten feet south), make the current roadway/ROW roadway only (and the trolley tracks ROW only), and provide two grade crossings were the trolley literally physically bumps out to provide a stop.

East of Broad, the ROW needs to be fully grade-separated through to Fishtown. Largely unused parking lanes can be eliminated, and a possible 15-Regional Rail connection could be built at 9^th and Girard. This grade-separation would entail the conversion of several cross-streets into double T’s, namely those not hosting bus routes en toto since those that do are more important than those that don’t. Left-hand turns would not be made in the trolleyway, since of course there would be no place to do it, and this of course eliminates the need for crash bumpers on the back of the carstops.

One other major issue is waiting at the carstops: there is a lack of protection from the elements at most of them. Installing bus shelters (more in the mold the current RR waiting shelters rather than the fugly old bus ones already in place) along the carstops would be exceedingly useful.

And of course, this is not the optimum route for a historic trolley. The 23 through Germantown is. When SEPTA replaces the Kawasaki LRVs currently operating along the Subway-Surface network, it should order enough for the 15 to be a permanent trolleyway—and eliminate the concrete asphalt from the trolleyway whenever possible.

Here is the alignment I’m proposing.