The Pope's Visit to Philadelphia - Impact on Traffic

[jeffandnicole]

The Pope will be visiting Philadelphia on September 26 & 27.  Philadelphia, PennDOT & NJDOT expect a paralyzing amount of traffic that weekend, much of which is going to be due to two things:  A massive amount of people visiting Philadelphia, and numerous road closures in the area.

The majority of closures will start around 6pm Friday evening, and may not completely reopen until Monday at noon.

Closed:
   I-76, from I-476 to I-95
   Ben Franklin Bridge
   I-676: Nearly the entire length in both PA & NJ.  I-676 in NJ will be open for about 2 miles, from the Walt Whitman Bridge to Exit 3 (Morgan Blvd).
   US 30 in NJ: From the Ben Franklin Bridge to US 130
   Many streets in Philly:  If the road is near the Ben Franklin Parkway, or near Independence Hall, chances are it will be closed.

Modified:
   I-95:  Will be open, but several exits in the Philadelphia area may be closed.
   NJ 38, 70, and others:  Will be open to specific points.  Police have stated they have diversion plans ready in case traffic is gridlocked.

Trains (On Sept 26 & 27)
   SEPTA:  Regional Rails require special 1 day passes, which permit you to board at specific stations
   PATCO:  Only 4 stations will be open, and 1 day passes for unlimited rides are available for those specific stations.  You may also use a Freedom Card for rides; $2.50 per trip.  The trains will operate non-stop from the station where it picks up passengers to 10th/11th & Locust in Philly.  In the afternoon, as the festivities are ending, the trains will operate on a load-and-go basis back to NJ, stopping at each of the 4 stations.
   NJ Transit: Atlantic City Line:  Will operate nonstop between the Atlantic City Station & Philadelphia's 30th Street Station
   NJ Transit: Riverline:  Will stop at limited stations (about 7 of the 20 or so stations) along the route. 

[PHLBOS]

1 Pictute = 1000 Words



For the New Jersey side of the river, see Page 3

[jeffandnicole]

NJ's Maps of closures:

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/events/driving.shtm

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/events/pdf/localconditions.pdf

And from http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pope/ , pretty much daily coverage of the Pope's visit, including lots of road information.

[SteveG1988]

It will be a holy mess

[Zeffy]

I'm debating if I should hold off the Kings Dominion trip because of this. Otherwise, this will be a great boost to both Philadelphia's and southern New Jersey's economies.

[PHLBOS]

I'm debating if I should hold off the Kings Dominion trip because of this.

Why?  Where you reside, and such was mentioned in your Road Trip thread, you can just get on the NJ Turnpike and bypass most of the local/regional traffic.  Additionally, you'll be traveling in the opposite direction of the papal-visit-bound traffic.

[slorydn1]

It will be a holy mess

Popemageddon....

[roadman]

Otherwise, this will be a great boost to both Philadelphia's and southern New Jersey's economies

People always say stuff like this before events that are highly disruptive to the average Joe just trying to get on with their normal lives.  However, when's the last time you saw a follow up story proving that this is actually true, or that the level of "economic benefit" was high enough to justify the expenses and disruption of hosting the event.

[vdeane]

How much of a boost could it possibly be if everyone is going to have to take Monday morning (and many Friday evening or Saturday/Sunday) off due to the closures?  The city is being very shortsighted by shutting everything down; unfortunately, it will be the average citizens who have to pay for it with their disrupted lives, while the officials who came up with the idea get off scot free.

[Alps]

I can field questions about the NJ side of things, but only as far as things that have been made public. For example, NJ 38 and 70 will be open to the end, not to a "specific point." But the end is at US 130 where US 30 is closed, so of course you have issues associated with detouring that traffic.

[noelbotevera]

Look, they've severed the WHOLE PHILADELPHIA METRO ROADS just for some Pope. World today people is this.

Reduced way oversized font. - rmf67

[cpzilliacus]

phillyliving.com: Papal visit transportation tips, I: Information for would-be drivers

Plenty of us are: despite rhetoric that seems to be scaring some people away from coming into the city, city officials and World Meeting of Families organizers still expect more than a million people to show up for the Pope's Saturday speech at Independence Hall, his appearance at the Festival of Families that night, and his Sunday Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

While security considerations have ranked uppermost in transportation planning for the papal visit, it will still be possible for just about everyone who wants to get into Center City to see His Holiness to do so. For those thinking of driving into the city, the advice is simple:

Don't.

Most of the major highways leading into Center City will be closed to general traffic over the weekend. Starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, vehicles from outside will not be allowed into the Central Philadelphia traffic exclusion zone that stretches from Girard Avenue, Ridge Avenue and Spring Garden Street on the north to South Street on the south from the Delaware to the Schuylkill; starting at 10 p.m. that night, outside vehicles cannot enter the West Philadelphia traffic exclusion zone from Powelton Avenue on the north to University Avenue on the south from the Schuylkill River west to 38th Street. This map shows the boundaries of the exclusion zone, the security perimeters for the papal visit, and the streets that will be open for emergency vehicles.

[US71]

Look, they've severed the WHOLE PHILADELPHIA METRO ROADS just for some Pope. World today people is this.

While you are entitled to your opinion, there is no need for shouting in 60 point.

[PHLBOS]

It was announced this morning that the RiverLink Ferry is boosting its schedule that weekend to accomodate those that don't want to do the walk on the Ben Franklin Bridge.  Info. can be found here.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

I might be attending this, but I'm not sure if we're gonna see the Pope in Philly or New York. It'll be absolutely brutal trying to drive down I'd assume.

[rickmastfan67]

noelbotevera, please, next time do not use a 60pt font with capital letters.  When you type in all CAPS on the internet, it is considered 'shouting' and is looked down upon almost everywhere.  13pt is pushing it, but 60pt for text is unacceptable.  So, please don't use that size font again.  Thank you.

[jpi]

Oh crap! Glad I came accross this. Steph and I will be in central PA that weekend for a big toy show in Hershey BUT we plan on going to Atlantic City on Sunday evening 9/27 (already have a room booked and paid for) and coming back to Harrisburg Monday evening, I was going to go through Philly either downtown or take the Blue Route and cross at Commandor Barry Bridge. Any other ideasof routes to take? I am now leaning towards crossing at Delaware Memorial and taking US 40 towards Glassboro and get on AC EXP in that area, it has been a few years since I was through this area.

[PHLBOS]

Although it will cost more in tolls and it's longer in distance; you might be better off just staying on the eastbound PA Turnpike (I-276) and head into NJ that way.  From there, take the northbound NJ Turnpike and get off at Exit 7 (roughly 3 miles from Exit 6) and follow US 206 South (to NJ 54 South) to the AC Expressway (it becomes NJ 54 and meets at Exit 28).  Yes, 206 is not a divided highway and has some lights; but it has a fair amount of open stretches (posted 50+ speed limits).

Due to I-76 being closed east of I-476; I would not recommend any such routing that involves using I-76 between I-276 (Valley Forge area) and 476 (Conshohocken area).

[odditude]

Although it will cost more in tolls and it's longer in distance; you might be better off just staying on the eastbound PA Turnpike (I-276) and head into NJ that way.  From there, take the northbound NJ Turnpike and get off at Exit 7 (roughly 3 miles from Exit 6) and follow US 206 South to the AC Expressway (it meets at Exit 28).  Yes, 206 is not a divided highway and has some lights; but it has a fair amount of open stretches (posted 50+ speed limits).

Due to I-76 being closed east of I-476; I would not recommend any such routing that involves using I-76 between I-276 (Valley Forge area) and 476 (Conshohocken area).

i'm 100% in agreement - just want to point out that US 206 becomes NJ 54 after crossing US 30 - the AC expressway interchange is south of the changeover.

[jpi]

Looks like I will go through Lancaster County into Cecil County, MD (272) to I-95 then cross DEL Memorial Bridge then either run US 40 all the way there or take the Jersey Turnpike to US 322 and catch the AC EXP at exit 38 (Williamstown). At least being a Sunday evening hopefully traffic won't be bad going that route.

[Zeffy]

Yes, 206 is not a divided highway and has some lights; but it has a fair amount of open stretches (posted 50+ speed limits).

South Jersey has it way better than Central/North Jersey when it comes to US 206. Until you get onto the portion before the Somerville Circle, the speed limit is never higher than 50 MPH, and constantly dips between 30, 40, and 45. That and some traffic signals should be a lot of purposefully out-of-sync traffic signals.

[Alps]

Looks like I will go through Lancaster County into Cecil County, MD (272) to I-95 then cross DEL Memorial Bridge then either run US 40 all the way there or take the Jersey Turnpike to US 322 and catch the AC EXP at exit 38 (Williamstown). At least being a Sunday evening hopefully traffic won't be bad going that route.

Sunday evening is the mass exodus (pardon the pun) from Philly. You'll be best off taking US 40, as a lot of traffic may sneak through the Barry and take 322.

[jpi]

Looks like I will go through Lancaster County into Cecil County, MD (272) to I-95 then cross DEL Memorial Bridge then either run US 40 all the way there or take the Jersey Turnpike to US 322 and catch the AC EXP at exit 38 (Williamstown). At least being a Sunday evening hopefully traffic won't be bad going that route.

Sunday evening is the mass exodus (pardon the pun) from Philly. You'll be best off taking US 40, as a lot of traffic may sneak through the Barry and take 322.

I figured that would be the best way, just running 40 from DEL mem. this was the way my parents used to go 25 years ago. Thanks for the info. :-)

[SteveG1988]

The only thing more holy in PA than the pope visit is the turnpike.

[Pete from Boston]

Christie orders state of emergency ahead of Pope's visit:

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/09/christie_orders_state_of_emergency_ahead_of_popes.html

I can't remember another instance where this power was invoked for a non-life-threatening situation.