Eakins Oval, long known as a tangle of lanes in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a step closer to looking more like a front lawn than a traffic circle. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has committed $1.8 million to study whether the Oval and the adjoining stretch of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway can be reconfigured so green space stretches right up to the museum steps. For neighbors and tourists, that could eventually mean fewer lanes to sprint across and a calmer, more park-like gateway to one of the city's busiest cultural hubs.
State Grant Backs First Look At A New Oval
According to a PennDOT release, the $1.8 million award comes from Automated Speed Enforcement program funds. The money will pay for a topographic survey, environmental clearances and preliminary engineering work around Eakins Oval.
That study is just one piece of a broader traffic safety push. PennDOT describes the Oval work as part of a larger $19.3 million package of projects in Philadelphia designed to slow vehicles and make crossings safer for people on foot.
Greener Parkway, Fewer Lanes, Safer Crossings
Early concepts already on the table would close the narrow outer lanes of Spring Garden Street and the Parkway in front of the museum, turn that strip into a grassy plaza, and reroute traffic so drivers bypass the top of the Oval, according to Billy Penn.
Looking further ahead, renderings from the city’s design team envision converting outer lanes into protected bike paths, adding gardens and small-scale programming spaces, and knitting the Parkway into a more walkable civic spine, as described in Philadelphia magazine.
How The Money Fits Into The Bigger Makeover
The Oval study is part of a much larger funding puzzle. The U.S. Department of Transportation has already awarded about $23.3 million in RAISE funds toward an eventual Eakins Oval overhaul, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
None of that means construction crews are lining up at the Parkway tomorrow. Planners are stressing that design and public outreach come first. “We’re far away from bulldozers,” Nicholas Anderson of the Parkway Council told Billy Penn, noting that engineering, permitting and additional funding steps still need to fall into place.
Public Input Will Help Decide What Gets Built
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has confirmed that the Oval survey is folded into the broader Reimagine Benjamin Franklin Parkway effort. City officials say they expect to release a more detailed conceptual plan in the coming months, as reported by PHILADELPHIA.Today.
The new survey work and environmental reviews are expected to guide future engineering decisions, regional permitting and a fresh round of public meetings. Only after that, officials say, would the city move toward approving any permanent lane closures or major construction at one of Philly's most visible crossroads.
