SEPTA Jenkintown-Wyncote Station Cheltenham Township and Jenkintown Borough Montgomery County Area of Potential Effect Report E.R. # Prepared for: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Prepared by: February 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... i List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. ii List of Photographs ................................................................................................................. ii I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 A. Project Description .............................................................................................1 II. Site Description ........................................................................................................... 6 III. Brief History of Project Area ..................................................................................... 7 A. History............................................................................................................... 7 1. Cheltenham Township ................................................................................. 7 2. Wyncote ...................................................................................................... 7 3. Jenkintown Borough ................................................................................... 7 IV. Previously Documented Cultural Resources .......................................................... 12 A. Archaeological Resources ................................................................................12 B. Above Ground Resources ................................................................................12 V. Definition of the Area of Potential Effect ............................................................... 15 A. Proposed APE ..................................................................................................15 1. Greenwood Avenue .................................................................................. 17 2. West Avenue ............................................................................................. 17 VI. Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 19 APPENDIX A ..............................................................................Project Renderings & Plans Figure A…………………………………………………………………………….……………Overall Station Plan Figure B1.……………………………………………………………………Rendering of Overpass Structure Figure B2.……………………………………………………………………Rendering of Overpass Structure Figure C1.Aerial View of High Level Platforms and Pedestrian Overpass Looking North Figure C2………….View of High Level Platforms and Pedestrian Overpass Looking North Figure D1.Aerial View of High Level Platforms and Pedestrian Overpass Looking South Figure D2.Aerial View of High Level Platforms and Pedestrian Overpass Looking South ii APPENDIX B .................................................................................................Correspondence LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Project Location (Adapted from ASC Group Area of Potential Effects Report. 2010) .......... 4 Figure 2. Project Area Features and Buildings (Adapted from ASC Group Area of Potential Effects Report. 2010) ............................................................................................................. 5 Figure 3. National Register Listed or Eligible Properties (ASC Group Area of Potential Effects Report. 2010 .............................................................................................................14 Figure 4. Area of Potential Effect ........................................................................................16 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photo 1. View of Greenwood Avenue Bridge from Existing Station Parking Lot. ............... 17 Photo 2. View of outbound and platform canopy adjacent to Greenwood Ave Bridge . ........ 18 Photo 3. View of drop off area adjacent to outbound platform.............................................. 18 iii I. INTRODUCTION The SEPTA Regional Rail Lines are a major component in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area mass transportation system. The busiest SEPTA Regional Rail Station outside of Center City Philadelphia is the Jenkintown-Wyncote Station, known as the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Station: Jenkintown by the National Register of Historic Places, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This Report addresses the proposed Improvements for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Station: Jenkintown. This Area of Potential Effect (APE) Survey Report and a Determination of Effect Report is prepared in accordance with the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and subsequent regulations (36 CFR 800) published by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) as revised. Other Federal and State mandates for the protection of cultural resources include: The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Executive Order 11593, the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Act no. 1978-273 amended as Act 1988-72. This report was prepared in accordance with the “Guidelines for Historic Resource Surveys in Pennsylvania” of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) and adheres to the policies and guidelines for the PHMC’s Bureau for Historic Preservation. This Report also adheres to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation (Federal Register, 1983). A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The purpose of the Proposed Improvements Project for the Jenkintown-Wyncote Station is to improve passenger safety, provide Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, improve on-site parking, and improve operational efficiency at this strategically located Station. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Station: Jenkintown site intersects with both Jenkintown Borough and Cheltenham Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The existing Station and adjacent surface parking lots are located in a mixed land use area. The Station property was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, is included in two overlapping Historic Districts and is adjacent to two more Historic Districts. Portions of the adjacent neighborhood in Cheltenham Township as well as the Station itself are part of the National Register-listed Wyncote Historic District. The existing rail Station does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because the boarding platforms are at track level, and the inbound and outbound platforms are connected via a tunnel with stairs. The existing Station also lacks a handicapped accessible restroom and an accessible ticket sales counter. During the daily rush hour, commuter trains stack up near the Station as they wait for earlier trains to disembark passengers onto the existing low-level platforms. This inefficient process adversely impacts SEPTA operations and slows the frequency of trains through the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Station: Jenkintown. The proposed Station Improvements Project includes: ADA compliant high-level platforms and ramps. These new platforms will feature new standing-seam metal-roofed canopies on bracketed steel columns designed to harmonize with the existing historic Train Station canopies. On the outbound side, the construction of a new ADA compliant high level platform will necessitate 1 approximately 40 feet of the existing canopy north of the greenwood avenue bridge to be salvaged and raised with extended columns to accommodate the new high level platform. This platform will connect with the West Avenue walkway and extend south for approximately 370 feet (Photo 2 and Appendix A: Figures A,D). The new high-level inbound platform will begin under the Greenwood Avenue Bridge and extend south for approximately 340 feet. The design of the high level platforms also includes enclosed passenger shelters on both the inbound and outbound platforms and new accessible restrooms on the inbound platform. To connect the new inbound and outbound platforms, a new pedestrian overpass structure is to be built. This overpass will incorporate stair and elevator towers on either side of the tracks, the two towers being connected by a single glass-enclosed steel truss bridge. This overpass is designed with predominantly traditional finish materials (fieldstone veneer, standing seam metal roofs) and a restrained use of modern finish materials (precast concrete components, ground face concrete block). The new overpass architectural forms and massing were intended to integrate with the architecture of the high level platform and canopy structure, complement the existing historic Depot Building, and also be visually compatible with the architecture of the adjacent Historic Districts. Modification of the south parking lot as required to accommodate the new high level platforms and other appurtenances required to complete the project. Changes to the south lot are intended to be minimal and only as required to accommodate the other key elements of the work The station entrance along West Avenue in Jenkintown will be expanded and enhanced (Appendix A: Figure D).