Nutter announces new $10M study to cap I-95

As Mayor Michael Nutter's mayoral term comes to a close, the outgoing city leader announced a $10 million study on capping Interstate 95 before admitting he is more prone to tears following his eight years in office.

"I think everybody has recognized, in the whole scheme of things, replacement of I-95 and the damage that its done to this city and a number of others is pretty clear," Nutter said.

Mayor Michael Nutter talked about his eight years in office and his plans for the future during his final press conference in office on Dec. 31, 2015.

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Mayor Michael Nutter talked about his eight years in office and his plans for the future… more

With an unbuttoned collar and no tie, a casual Nutter said the study will be funded by state and federal dollars, although the city may end up contributing funds to the project in future budgets. The Federal Transportation Improvement Program has made a commitment to fund the first phase of the study.

The study, which will be done in conjunction with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, will focus on capping the area around Penn's Landing, including Columbus Boulevard, located near the Irish Memorial that sits just south of Front and Chestnut streets, the outgoing mayor said before he took a look back on his two terms.

"The fact is Philadelphia is safer today than before it was the day I became into office. The fact is there is more educational funding for schools than there has been at any other time," Nutter said. "The fact is unemployment has continued to go down and we are in a boom of economic revitalization. ... We’ve helped to change some of the culture around this government as far as corruption."

"Those are the facts," he said.

Along with ticking off the administration's accomplishments, Nutter said the past eight years had a significant impact on his personal growth.

"The biggest thing for me is having a greater appreciation and understanding of some of the incredible challenges and difficulties people face," he said, noting the difficult conversations he's had with the loved ones of public servants killed in the line of duty.

"I’ve become more personally emotional over the last eight years," he continued. "I find myself in any number of moments possibly on the verge of tears or welling up about all kinds of things. It’s not that I didn’t have feelings before but something has happened."

Shifting to comments on his future plans, Nutter quickly dismissed his own tongue-in-cheek suggestion that he would be taking Fox29 Good Day Philadelphia anchor Mike Jerrick's job – "I think he and Chip are going to do some things together."

Once Mayor-elect Jim Kenney takes over on Jan. 4, Nutter said, he will get some rest and then spend some time lending support to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and continue to work on some causes he worked on during his 22.5 years in city government.

"I care passionately about [curbing] violence especially in communities of color," he said. "We still have challenges in public safety."

"We confiscate a lot of guns, but there are a lot of guns in this city," he added.

Education and poverty were also two issues where he'd also likely dedicate his time.

"I’ve never had this kind of moment in my life to make some affirmative decisions on how I want to spend my time."

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal