PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Mayor Michael Nutter and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation lit the first phase of the Race Street Connector Project.

The Race Street Connector is a pedestrian friendly walkway that provides easy access from Race Street in Old City to the Race Street Pier and the riverfront. The new enhancements include new a sidewalk and bike trail, an industrial underpass and an LED screen that shows real-time abstract images of the surface of the Delaware River.

Mayor Nutter said the connector is just the beginning.

“We are going to continue with more and more development in the infrastructure here, in the greening and access to the Delaware River, because that is what people want,” Nutter said.

The DRWC reports that the price tag on the improvements was more than $1.3 million. The project was funded by money from the William Penn Foundation, the DRWC’s City capital funds and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Mayor Nutter says the Race Street Connector is just phase one of the city’s master plan to revitalize Philadelphia’s riverfront.

Reported by Cherri Gregg, KYW Newsradio 1060