In mid-2003, when construction of the new Schuylkill River Park began, it became apparent that the access points over the railroad tracks at Race and Locust Streets into the Park were in danger of being closed off by CSX. This was due to previous agreements that the City of Philadelphia made with CSX's predecessor. In response to this threat, Free Schuylkill River Park was created by a number of neighbors and park users as a campaign to keep the two street-level crossings open and safe for pedestrians and other park users.

During 2004 and 2005, we created a website and capability to provide park users with opportunities to send CSX and elected officials letters, emails, faxes and phone calls regarding the need to keep the two crossings open and safe for public access. When CSX sued the City in late 2004 to force a closing of the two crossings, we filed to intervene. Although we were not successful in our intervention motion, the Judge believed that the City's position was so similar to ours that it represented our interests. The Judge asked the City's Law Department to consult with us as the case proceeded. During 2005, we worked to keep pressure on CSX to stop blocking access into Schuylkill River Park by parking trains and to cease parking trains filled with garbage. We worked with Philadelphia City Council to pass ordinances deploring the train parking and to get hearings scheduled to bring CSX to publicly testify. After twice refusing to appear or substantively testify before Councilman Michael Nutter's Utilities Committee, CSX finally testified for two hours at a hearing in late December 2005 and pledged to "soften" the parking. After that hearing, in February 2006, CSX and the City's Law Department began to seriously negotiate a settlement. A year later, in December 2006, a tentative agreement was reached allowing both crossings to remain open as long as a bridge was built in the vicinity of Locust Street.

In April 2007, that agreement was signed by both Mayor John F. Street and CSX Vice-President William Goetz.During the course of the campaign, we sent out 10 action alerts and an online petition. We sent emails to park users who had signed up to receive alerts and also took laptop computers into the Park to ask park users to send a letter. These techniques resulted in thousands of letters and faxes sent to several targets, ranging from CSX executives, City Council members and other elected officials. Over 2500 people signed the online petition. We set up "train cams" at both Locust and Race streets so that anyone could get a real time video picture of the crossings from our website. We also set up a "complaint form" for anyone to send a notice to CSX that a train was blocking their access. We used the data from those forms to establish the pattern of train parking over a two year period, which we submitted to City Council.

We were supported by the William Penn Foundation and the Rails to Trails Conservancy. Individuals and many local businesses and developers also supported our efforts and our two 5K runs called "Runnin on the River." In the Fall of 2005, we incorporated as a non-profit corporation and received tax-exempt status in late spring 2006. The official name of our organization is the Lower Schuylkill River Users Association. In mid-2007, we changed our "fictitious" name from Free Schuylkill River Park to the Schuylkill River Park Alliance to signal our change from focusing on the two crossings issue to working for all park users of Schuylkill River Parks along the tidal Schuylkill River.

We have submitted this entry because we believe that the Free Schuylkill River Park Campaign exemplifies citizen-based advocacy that can empowers a community to have a greater control over its own public spaces. The campaign made the public park safer and more accessible and created a more sustainable transportation alternative for recreational and commuting bicyclists. The impact is lasting and long-term, because the agreement will keep open two pre-existing street level access points into Schuylkill River Park from City streets in perpetuity as long as the agreement is abided by both parties.

The impact is certainly measureable in that the use of the Park greatly exceeded expectations (30,000 usages a month) and the Locust Street entrance was found to be the second highest entry/exit point, after Martin Luther King Drive. This campaign's success adds substantively to the sustainability of Philadelphia's transportation alternatives and helps connect multiple city neighborhoods to a prominent riverfront greenway. For a municipality to work out such as good deal with a freight railroad, we believe is a precedent. Lastly, this campaign was all about partnerships, between civic organizations, between citizens and federal, state and local elected officials, between citizens and Mayor Street's Administration, and between elected officials across party lines. We believe that the lessons learned from this campaign can certainly be replicated elsewhere.