The way I see it, not having a cap on 95 isn't stopping people from going to the few things that are there. There are several fairly decent routes to the waterfront from South Street and Society Hill. The Seaport Museum and the Spirit of Philadelphia aren't losing business because there isn't a ten block long covering.

I'm not against covering I-95, one day, but the city, the state, or the feds aren't going to caugh up the money to do so if they're not going to see it come back. In the meantime, we can do something with that vast wasteland of nicely designed concrete that goes unused for most of the year.

Look at what other cities do on their waterfront, tourists love cheesy souvenir malls and food courts like the one in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, rent the outdoor space to carnivals, farmer's markets, flea markets, recreate London's Eye of Philadelphia sponsored by Comcast, whatever.

The city and developers seem to hold that chunk of land in such high regard it's as if nothing is ever good enough for it. There should be something there every weekend of the year - day and night - concerts, festivals, you name it. It's low maintenance space that should be generating money and it's not living up to it's potential, and until it is, no government treasury is going to find it financially feasable to cap I-95.

I go to Penn's Landing at least once a week in the summer time, either jogging, walking, or just to relax, and you better believe that if there was something to do down there, I'd be spending money. I-95 isn't stopping people from going to the river, our reluctance to develop it is.

__________________
The idealistic are no longer concerned with influencing public opinion and creating a free world of responsible and ethical social choices, but rather imposing opinion through legislation, mandating these ethics, and outlawing choice in what the loudest sample finds offensive.

Ban the Bans. It's a slippery slope between Idealism and Fascism.