Report: Reopening PATCO's Franklin Square Station Would Cost $18.5M
By Jim Melwert
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- $18.5 million is the latest estimate to re-open the Franklin Square station along the PATCO line. PATCO riders say they'd like to see a stop at 7th and Race, even if not for their work, for recreational visits to Old City or Independence Mall.
"I think that there are other things that PATCO could use the money for," says one PATCO rider, "but it does serve a pretty big chunk of the city that they're missing by not stopping down that far."
The report says a walkway under Race Street, or an escalator and station headhouse at 7th and Race could be built for another 8-million dollars.
It estimates about 13-hundred daily trips from Franklin Station, though it does say many of those would likely be people who already use PATCO and get on at the nearby 8th and Market stop.
This discussion is certainly not new, this report updates numbers from previous studies done in 2003 and 2009.
