Demolition is taking place to make way for the Swing Bridge construction project.

The Schuylkill Crossing Project is underway. This project will connect the Bartram’s Mile Trail with the Grays Ferry Crescent and is managed by the Schuylkill River Development Corporation.

This segment of the Schuylkill River Trail will also carry the East Coast Greenway and the 911 Trail.

A rendering of the Schuylkill Crossing Swing Bridge. Projected to open in 2019.

Work began with the demolition of the swing truss bridge which was built in 1902 for the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and was taken out of commission in 1976. When completed in late 2019 it will be the only operable bicycle and pedestrian swing bridge in North America.

Within the next few years a connecting trail will link it with the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk at its current endpoint near Christian St. This is the culmination of several years of work. It’s worth noting that the type of bridge that’s being installed — New moveable bridge at 26′ elevation — is the one we wanted, and the one you, as a supporter of better bicycling in Philadelphia, asked for.

Once complete, the swing bridge will connect the Grays Ferry Crescent with Bartram’s Mile, which also connects to the 58th Street Greenway and Cobbs Creek Trail, leaving just one gap left between Southwest Philly/Eastern Delaware County residents to Center City, Philadelphia, by bicycle.