The Valley Green Run Restoration & Pedestrian Bridge Project is Complete!
Photos courtesy of Chuck Uniatowski
After nearly a decade of planning and seven months of construction, Friends of the Wissahickon marked the completion of its $3.5 million Valley Green Run Restoration and Pedestrian Bridge project in Wissahickon Valley Park with a ribbon cutting on December 10, 2024. The pivotal project, which combines environmental conservation with visitor accessibility and enjoyment, is FOW’s largest capital investment to date and the pinnacle of the organization’s 100th anniversary celebration.
FOW Executive Director Ruffian Tittmann dedicated the new footbridge as Lida Way, in honor of naming donors Linda and David Glickstein, and in tribute to FOW’s more than 2,000 volunteers.
In congratulating Tittmann and FOW, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR) Commissioner Susan Slawson said, “PPR is lucky to have FOW as a partner for your leadership, tenacity, and use of resources to clean and green this majestic watershed park, one of the shining assets of our park system, and for your service over the past 100 years.”
Other speakers at the event, who acknowledged the importance of partnership and community commitment in undertaking such projects, included Jeanne Barrett Ortiz, Southeast Regional Advisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Jessica Brooks, assistant deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Water Department; Pennsylvania State Representative Tarik Kahn, and Garrett Trego, FOW board president.
“FOW is all about maintaining balance, and this project is a perfect example of that,” said Trego. “It respects our beautiful park, and solves needs in terms of stormwater management, stream restoration, pedestrian access, and transportation. We’ve accomplished these goals through an incredibly thoughtful, artfully accomplished, and well-planned and executed project.”
The ambitious undertaking consisted of two main phases:
The first phase remediated years of worsening storm-induced erosion on both sides of Valley Green Run, which caused both the streambank and original wooden boardwalk to collapse in 2014, forcing pedestrians to navigate the narrow road as they headed down to the park. Now stable, the stream channel and streambank will slow the erosive impacts of stormflow, keep sediment from being discharged to Wissahickon Creek, (which provides drinking water for a third of Philadelphians), and restore a riparian buffer with over 200 Philadelphia native woody plants.
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- The Valley Green Run and Lida Way Pedestrian Bridge Project, completed in 2024, provides safer pedestrian access to the heart of the Wissahickon and stabilized the streambank which suffered years of storm-induced erosion. Ultimately, the project reduces the amount of sediment discharge into a drinking water source for more than 300,000 Philadelphians. Photo: Charles Uniatowski
The project’s second phase created a 200-foot elevated galvanized footbridge that will now safely move visitors off Valley Green Road as they approach the Valley Green area, the most visited area of the park. The signature feature is an observation platform that gives visitors an expanded view of the Wissahickon’s schist outcrops and historic Valley Green Bridge as it welcomes them to the park’s unofficial “front door.”
The final component of the project – the “North Approach” – located just north of the pedestrian bridge entrance, includes the natural-style stream restoration and a new inlaid stone trailhead feature that can retain the hillside, resiliently convey stormwater, and manage high volumes of park visitors through the area.
The project was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and the Philadelphia Water Department. Additionally, more than $1.3 million was contributed by a combination of private foundations and individual donors – the project’s largest single funding source.
The project team consisted of Skelly and Loy, a Terracon Company, general contractor and streambank restoration designer; CVMNEXT Construction, design/builder on the pedestrian bridge; Resource Restoration Group, builder for the stream restoration and North Approach elements; and Krieger Architects, pedestrian bridge design architect and project architect for donor recognition.
Opportunities are available to name planks on the new walkway. For information, visit fow.org/inparkrecognition.