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Wister, the smaller of Germantown’s two R-7 SEPTA train stations, is an easy spot to miss if you are not a local to Ashmead Street or making a special effort to look for it. However, the seemingly obscure location of Wister does not diminish its importance to persons relying on this station.
“My mother lives on Rubicam Avenue [two blocks from Wister],” Shirley Plowden said. “I use the train to go visit her.”
With a 20-minute link to Center City, this train station arguably provides a quick way for local residents to move throughout Philadelphia.
However, many local residents actually avoid this station. A closer view reveals why.
Marred by years of vandalism and neglect, Wister Station now scares away many would-be riders. On and adjacent to the station, waste dumping has overwhelmed a large vacant lot, transforming an open field into a refuse dump. In an underground tunnel that conveniently allows passage between the north and south bound sides of the rail tracks, graffiti, strewn condoms and the smell of urine reveal an environment after dark that few pedestrians want to risk encountering.
Plowden, who was hesitant at first to admit what goes on at Wister, soon said that upon using the station’s tunnel at night, she has run into people smoking crack. Other residents expressed witnessing similar scenes at Wister or finding the paraphernalia drug users leave behind.
Fortunately, efforts are underway to begin renovating the station, thanks to a federal stimulus grant. SEPTA is spending $1.7 million to renovate stations across its R-7 line. Of that, $897,000 is heading to fix Wister and nearby Germantown stations. DA Nolt, a general contractor funded by SEPTA, began chipping away at the station’s dumping ground as part of planned improvements.
“We’re trashing the scrap, cutting trees and laying new stone and gravel,” said Neal Vanderpoel of DA Nolt. “We’re also going to scrape, plaster and paint the tunnel and platform. When we’re done [around June], this is going to look like a clean, new area.”
The pending improvements please area resident Brandon Campbel. “I’m really glad they’re here,” said Campbel, gesturing from the Wister platform to the Nolt workers. “Kids go back there [in the dumping grounds] all the time, and it’s dangerous; they cut themselves, and then we eventually will have to try cleaning it up, so it’s great that they’re here.”
Unfortunately, Vanderpoel admitted that he and his co-workers would not be removing all of the scrap material, because about half of it is not on SEPTA property. The non-SEPTA property belongs to The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. The RDA has owned the vacant lot occupying 423-427 Ashmead St., adjacent to the Wister station, since 1970, confirmed Liz Sereno, an RDA employee. The Redevelopment Authority is not taking part in the SEPTA sponsored renovation efforts.
“It’s difficult,” said SEPTA press officer Gary Fairfax. “All of this [garbage] makes the station less safe and less usable to our passengers, but this isn’t our land and we don’t have the money to clean everywhere.”
Willie Hubert, a younger resident of Ashmead Street, is regretful that the lot’s renovation will not be taken further.
“They should put blacktop down to make a playground or basketball court,” Hubert said. “There’s kids all over these blocks, and if there was a playground they wouldn’t have to play in the streets. We never bother going to the nearest rec center on Wayne Avenue because it’s too far away.”
Hubert continued to say that he occasionally uses Wister Station for the tunnel itself as a shortcut to the SEPTA J Bus to Northeast Philadelphia, but that he walks blocks around instead when there are too many people around. When he does take the train, he prefers to catch it from Germantown, a mile distant, rather than the Wister stop, half a block away.
SEPTA’s Fairfax was up front about the security fears that keep nearby residents away from Wister.
“I want residents to know that we are getting to work now on Wister, so that it will be a more visible station [and with better lighting near and inside its tunnel.]
However, many fearful residents and travelers do not feel this is enough, and that crime will not truly be brought under control until security cameras or call boxes are installed, similar to on SEPTA’s subway lines.
“If there were cameras, more people would take the train,” Hubert said. “Then, those from not around here [who engage in crime within the Wister tunnel] would get away.”
“Unfortunately, there is a significant difficulty with installing cameras,” said Fairfax. “We will have to lay AVP [audio, visual, power] cables out to all of these stations, and right now that is not feasible.”
While such security improvements at Wister and other stations have been an informal part of SEPTA’s long-term plans for some time, recent occurrences have dimmed hopes of seeing these improvements occur. Last week, a petition by Pennsylvania’s Turnpike Commission to begin tolls on Interstate 80 in northern Pennsylvania was formally rejected by the federal government. As a result, SEPTA now faces a $110 million shortfall within its capital budget for infrastructure maintenance and improvements.
“We are unhappy with this decision by the federal government,” Fairfax said. “It is going to greatly reduce our ability to [keep up with maintenance] … passengers don’t deserve it.”
Wister is not the only station affected by the new budget shortfall. As discussed in a recent SEPTA press release, planned renovations to nearby Wayne Junction Station on the edge of Germantown, as well as City Hall Station on the Broad Street subway line, have now been put on hold.
There is one other possibility for Wister Station beyond the immediate improvements, however. As earlier reported by The Germantown Chronicle, SEPTA has been in early discussions with nearby La Salle University to assist in future renovations to make the station more accessible for students. Fairfax could not comment on the latest status of discussions, except to confirm that they have occurred in the past. Repeated calls to Edward Turzanski, the director of government relations at La Salle, were not returned by time of publication.
While many Wister users are happy with what renovations will occur, others are very apathetic without the promise of substantially better security to come.
“This tunnel is what it is. This is our neighborhood,” local employee Candra Johnson said, gesturing to the graffiti. “SEPTA is not going to fix this problem.”
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