Sowinski Sullivan is leading a design team tasked with achieving ADA compliance at the last six now accessible PATCO stations by adding elevators. The stations lie on either side of the Delaware River: 12th-13th & Locust Streets in Philadelphia, PA, and City Hall, Collingswood, Westmont, Haddonfield, and Ashland in Camden County, NJ. Each station was assessed with regard to the architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and security implications of the potential elevator designs. As the concepts for each station moved forward, Sowinski Sullivan also considered the constructability, maintainability, dependability, ease of passenger access and circulation, and cost effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

The stations present a wide range of existing conditions. City Hall and 12th-13th & Locust are underground urban stations whose accessible street-level entrances Sowinski Sullivan had to integrate into the urban landscape without negatively impacting pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The Ashland, Collingswood, and Westmont stations exist in a more suburban context, with station buildings at street level and platforms on elevated viaducts. For these stations, Sowinski Sullivan strove to create a similar experience for all passengers, regardless of their physical abilities, while working within the constraints of the structural elements supporting the tracks. At Haddonfield, the street-level station building spans above the platform and tracks, which sit below-grade in a cut bordered by concrete retaining walls and a NJ Transit track. The confined nature of this station’s existing geometry limited the elevator placement, pushing Sowinski Sullivan to find the most user-friendly and functional scheme within the given parameters. In addition to new elevators, the six stations also required a variety of layout improvements. These ranged from redesigning the farelines to relocating existing ramps and stairs.

Sowinski Sullivan is leading the design team through construction documentation and the construction process.