Halfway There: The Valley Green Run Restoration and Pedestrian Bridge
The Wissahickon is not just a beautiful place. The park and its trail system are an escape to nature for our 2 million+ annual visitors. The Wissahickon Creek supplies drinking water to 1 in 3 Philadelphians, and its diverse landscape provides habitat for thousands of species of plants and animals.
Improving accessibility to this essential urban green space for all who seek it while ensuring its resiliency is paramount for Friends of the Wissahickon.
The ongoing Valley Green Run Restoration and Pedestrian Bridge Project fulfills both these needs.
This project, which broke ground in May, has been a decade in the making since the collapse of the original footbridge in 2014, which carried park users down from Valley Green’s Upper Lot. Without this infrastructure, visitors are forced to walk alongside cars on Valley Green Road to enter this high-use area, which can see an average of 1,000 visits a day, according to FOW’s trail counters.
Not only is this unsafe, but our park users deserve entrance to the park that is as beautiful as what lies ahead.
Do you want to be a part of this landmark project?
You and your family love the Valley Green area, create your own personal touchstone with a variety of on-site recognition opportunities on the Valley Green Pedestrian Bridge, including laser-cut metal planks, engraved stone pavers, stone benches, and more. Find more information about our recognition opportunities and project here.
We are so grateful for your patience during this project and are happy to share we are currently at the halfway mark through construction of the park’s newest landmark. Seven of nine total step pools along the Valley Green Run have been installed. These stair-like features, which are made of large boulders, will slow oncoming surges of stormwater during extreme weather events and collect sediment, ultimately improving water quality in the Wissahickon Creek.
Currently, our contractors are also working on the Run’s boulder bank revetments, which, in concert with native tree and shrub plantings, will further protect the streambank from erosion.
Next, we will begin work on the final step pools, reconstruct stormwater infrastructure to properly convey water off Valley Green Road, create a brand-new trailhead at the north approach to the Bridge, and regrade the banks to prepare them for woody plantings. The southern half of the streambank surrounding this new bridge has already been seeded with grass, but the addition of trees and shrubs, with their reinforced woody root systems, will grow deep into the soil and prevent it from eroding during storms.
By donating to this project today, you can have a direct impact on the experience of millions of the park’s visitors. This new, resilient pedestrian bridge restores an essential trail link from the upper Valley Green Road parking lot, providing safer pedestrian access to one of the most popular locations in the Wissahickon.
If you’d like to see your name or a special message on this critical capital investment, email Sarah Marley at marley@fow.org. The deadline to secure your recognition on the ribbon-cutting day is September 18. Onsite recognition opportunities start at $1,000.
Thank you for your support and understanding of this ongoing project; we are sure that it will be worth the wait.