VanMeter has reimagined the remnants of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway as a path where pedestrians and cyclists (and maybe even fashion models) could travel without ever crossing a street.
"We are looking at Philadelphia's next great civic space," vanMeter said, as he and SEPTA officials led the tour along the path of the old tracks.
The trip began near Girard Avenue, wandered through the 52-foot-wide tunnel, burst into sunlight near the Rodin Museum, and continued through the Whole Foods parking garage before resurfacing near 20th Street.
From there, the group walked at street level, looking down at part of the trail that is not currently accessible and that runs under The Inquirer and Daily News building, before crossing Broad Street and heading to the old Reading Viaduct in the Loft District.
That section of the old train line already has garnered headlines as a proposed three-quarter-mile park similar to New York City's popular High Line.
Mayor Nutter has endorsed that proposal, and Alan Greenberger, his commerce director, and Paul Levy, chief executive of the Center City District, have been negotiating with Reading International to acquire the property.
Reading International officials were not available for comment, but Levy says they share the city's vision of "making it a great public park and stimulating renovation of a substantial number of vacant properties in that area. It's a real gap in the fabric of the city."
Levy is also working to expand housing in the area, especially as Chinatown spreads north. He and Sarah McEneaney and John Struble, who sparked the effort to turn the viaduct into an elevated park, have begun community planning and are hoping to have construction documents for a small portion of the new green space, known as the SEPTA spur, by the end of this year.
