What would you build?
Each map below shows a real transportation barrier or a missing connection. Explore it, draw the fix you would build, then see what was actually built (or is planned), how it changed the network, and why it mattered to me. The point is not to be right; it is to start seeing the missing links the way a planner, a cyclist, a runner, or a resident does.
Case 01 · Connectivity
Connecting Two Trail Networks
Chester Valley Trail × Schuylkill River Trail · Greater Philadelphia
- 1 Explore
- 2 Reveal
- 3 Impact
- 4 Personal
This piece uses an interactive map that needs JavaScript and WebGL. The story still reads top to bottom without it.
Case 02 · Safety & comfort
Removing a Dangerous Commute Bottleneck
The Wissahickon gateway · Schuylkill River Trail, Manayunk
- 1 Explore
- 2 Reveal
- 3 Impact
- 4 Personal
This piece uses an interactive map that needs JavaScript and WebGL. The story still reads top to bottom without it.
Case 03 · Removing barriers
Crossing an Interstate
The I-90 underpass · Ellensburg, Washington
- 1 Explore
- 2 Reveal
- 3 Impact
- 4 Personal
This piece uses an interactive map that needs JavaScript and WebGL. The story still reads top to bottom without it.
The takeaway
Three things I hope you carry out of here
- Small can be enormous. The value of a project is rarely proportional to its size. A connector, a bridge, an underpass. A few hundred feet can open up a whole network.
- Connectivity beats magnitude. A trail you cannot reach is not really yours. The link that lets you reach it is often worth more than another mile of trail.
- Places enter our lives through their connections. We belong to the places we can actually get to. Fix the weakest link and a whole landscape opens up.
Now go look at your own town. Where is the missing link?