Philadelphia

[Pete from Boston]

They're sending the pope to Philly... and then acting concerned about his safety.  It's like bringing a towel into the ocean to prevent getting wet!

[jeffandnicole]

The westbound I-76 will be closed within Philadelphia over the last weekend in September.  Eastbound it will be closed from the Blue Route to the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Traffic will be able to access the bridge from I-95, as well as Front Street and possibly Packer Ave. 

Westbound, traffic on the bridge will primarily be forced to I-95, which allows traffic to access Front Street as well.

There are a lot of unknowns. We know what will be closed, but we don't know what could be closed if traffic gets bad enough. I don't know if there will be a second round of announcements or if it will just be internally planned to respond to different situations in different ways.

There's also a LOT of misinformation in the press, and much of it is due to reporters trying to read between the lines...sometimes with fantastical failures.  It was being reported that with the Ben Franklin bridge open only to pedestrians, everyone walking on the bridge was going to be inspected/searched/etc, and the wait could be hours. Except every agency that could possibly be involved said that they weren't doing any of that on the bridge. The press started to back off their statements, although numerous commenters are writing and noticing that the media is starting to get out-of-hand with their reporting. 

It sounds like the South Philly stadium complex is where buses will be dropping off and picking up visitors for the Pope's visit. It's about 3 miles from City Hall, with an easy subway ride to there. The Ben Franklin Parkway starts at City Hall, and stretches about a mile to the Philly Art Museum. There will be about 4 DOZEN jumbotrons throughout the area to watch the Pope's speech.

[ekt8750]

PennDOT quietly reopened the Plymouth Road bridge just east of the ramps to/from the Blue Route and the Turnpike in Plymouth Twp today. The bridge was slowly crumbling away thanks to the creek running below it before PennDOT shut it down and they spent the almost a year replacing it.

[BrianP]

PennDOT quietly reopened the Plymouth Road bridge just east of the ramps to/from the Blue Route and the Turnpike in Plymouth Twp today. The bridge was slowly crumbling away thanks to the creek running below it before PennDOT shut it down and they spent the almost a year replacing it.

Quietly??
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Montgomery-County-Sinkholes-Leslie-Richards-Plymouth-Road-Bridge-Plymouth-Township-Plymouth-Creek-323094671.html

State Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards attended Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Plymouth Road bridge in Plymouth Township.

It's on the front page of nbcphiladelphia.  They had a ribbon cutting.  That's not quietly. 

[ekt8750]

PennDOT quietly reopened the Plymouth Road bridge just east of the ramps to/from the Blue Route and the Turnpike in Plymouth Twp today. The bridge was slowly crumbling away thanks to the creek running below it before PennDOT shut it down and they spent the almost a year replacing it.

Quietly??
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Montgomery-County-Sinkholes-Leslie-Richards-Plymouth-Road-Bridge-Plymouth-Township-Plymouth-Creek-323094671.html

State Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards attended Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Plymouth Road bridge in Plymouth Township.

It's on the front page of nbcphiladelphia.  They had a ribbon cutting.  That's not quietly.

I may have been on the website but there was no mention of it on air in any of the morning or midday TV news broadcasts.

[SteveG1988]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Construction_starting_on_Betsy_Ross_Bridge_Aramingo_Ave_ramp_project.html

[jeffandnicole]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Construction_starting_on_Betsy_Ross_Bridge_Aramingo_Ave_ramp_project.html

This article was written nearly 7 months ago, on March 19, 2015.

[SteveG1988]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Construction_starting_on_Betsy_Ross_Bridge_Aramingo_Ave_ramp_project.html

This article was written nearly 7 months ago, on March 19, 2015.

Yes, but i didn't see it mentioned before.

I've been through it recently enough, they are making distinctive progress.

[ixnay]

On eastern U.S. 422 between PA 29 and the Oaks interchange, there is an unusually wide median for about a mile.  Was it once the site of a proposed freeway-to-freeway interchange?

ixnay

[BrianP]

AFAIK That would have been for the PA 23 Schuylkill Parkway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_23#Freeway_proposals

[jemacedo9]

AFAIK That would have been for the PA 23 Schuylkill Parkway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_23#Freeway_proposals

The wide median was supposed to be for the "Phoenixville Spur", which would have veered off more due west and ended up at the JCT of PA 23 and PA 724.  It was listed on older Alfred B Patton maps, and there are (or at least were) old documents about the proposal in the Exton (PA) Library.

I don't think that was specifically for the Schuylkill Parkway, which I thought was PA 23 from Bridgeport (where there is a stub), ending near the US 422 Schuylkill River overpass.

[PHLBOS]

A brand-new APL BGS has been erected along I-95 Northbound in Chester at the I-476 interchange replacing the previous-separate BGS panels (I-95 North pull-through & I-476 North (Mac Dade Blvd. pre-Dec. 1991) exit).  The right-turn portion of the shared-lane arrow has a temporary green-out sheet placed over it.   Apparently, PennDOT will be converting the center-lane along I-95 northbound into a shared-lane at this interchange in the foreseable future.

What's noteworthy about this APL is that it's probably the first PennDOT BGS in years that does not use the Clearview font.  The BGS' just south of this interchange, that were erected just a few years ago all have the destination listings in Clearview.  Additionally, the spacing of the 476 digits (in Series C) on the I-476 shield on the APL are a bit off; the 4 and the 7 are positioned too close leaving a noticeable, wider gap between the 7 and the 6. 

A single-line Plymouth Mtg. is used for the I-476 North destination listing rather than the 2-line Plymouth Meeting listing that its predecessor and surrounding signage in this area had/has.

[odditude]

Additionally, the spacing of the 476 digits (in Series C) on the I-476 shield on the APL are a bit off; the 4 and the 7 are positioned too close leaving a noticeable, wider gap between the 7 and the 6.

not uncommon - does it look like there's no kerning whatsoever (i.e. the rightmost point of the top of the 7 is further left than the leftmost part of the 6)?

[froggie]

Did they finally restripe it as a 2-lane exit from NB 95 to the Blue Route?  I remember it for MANY years as just a single-lane exit that widened to 2 lanes all of 300 feet down the ramp.

[jeffandnicole]

Did they finally restripe it as a 2-lane exit from NB 95 to the Blue Route?

Not yet.

[ixnay]

While searching for something else along the Schuylkill X-way, I stumbled across this...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9331513,-75.1997741,3a,21.4y,330.83h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp0UhNiPdbg7h66QOhh6zKQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Can anyone remember what that metal plate on the University Avenue sign covers, and why it was covered?  Has it been replaced since 8/2014?

ixnay

[ekt8750]

While searching for something else along the Schuylkill X-way, I stumbled across this...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9331513,-75.1997741,3a,21.4y,330.83h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp0UhNiPdbg7h66QOhh6zKQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Can anyone remember what that metal plate on the University Avenue sign covers, and why it was covered?  Has it been replaced since 8/2014?

ixnay

It's still there. I think it covers up "Civic Center". I remember seeing that on BGSes in the early 90s.

[PHLBOS]

While searching for something else along the Schuylkill X-way, I stumbled across this...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9331513,-75.1997741,3a,21.4y,330.83h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp0UhNiPdbg7h66QOhh6zKQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Can anyone remember what that metal plate on the University Avenue sign covers, and why it was covered?  Has it been replaced since 8/2014?

ixnay

It's still there. I think it covers up "Civic Center". I remember seeing that on BGSes in the early 90s.

Correct.  This BGS was erected during the 1980s when the Civic Center was still around.

[ixnay]

While searching for something else along the Schuylkill X-way, I stumbled across this...

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9331513,-75.1997741,3a,21.4y,330.83h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sp0UhNiPdbg7h66QOhh6zKQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Can anyone remember what that metal plate on the University Avenue sign covers, and why it was covered?  Has it been replaced since 8/2014?

ixnay

It's still there. I think it covers up "Civic Center". I remember seeing that on BGSes in the early 90s.

Correct.  This BGS was erected during the 1980s when the Civic Center was still around.

Ah, the Philadelphia Civic Center/Convention Hall... where in the '70's I attended a couple of Philadelphia Firebirds minor league hockey games at CH, the Philly Sports Show (for outdoorsmen like my fisherman father) (also in CH), not to mention a car show, a college fair, and in the '80s, the venerable Philadelphia Flower Show (those last three events in one or another of the CC's newer buildings).  You're making me feel *old*, ekt8750 and PHLBOS!

ixnay

[KEVIN_224]

I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show in March of 1991. That's also when I added Pennsylvania to my lifetime state count. I also attended WCW Halloween Havoc in October of 1992. I distinctly remember coming into Philly the first time on the Walt Whitman Bridge.

[DeaconG]

My high school graduation in 1976 was in Convention Hall. Understood why it had to go but wasn't happy about it.

[ekt8750]

A brand-new APL BGS has been erected along I-95 Northbound in Chester at the I-476 interchange replacing the previous-separate BGS panels (I-95 North pull-through & I-476 North (Mac Dade Blvd. pre-Dec. 1991) exit).  The right-turn portion of the shared-lane arrow has a temporary green-out sheet placed over it.   Apparently, PennDOT will be converting the center-lane along I-95 northbound into a shared-lane at this interchange in the foreseable future.

What's noteworthy about this APL is that it's probably the first PennDOT BGS in years that does not use the Clearview font.  The BGS' just south of this interchange, that were erected just a few years ago all have the destination listings in Clearview.  Additionally, the spacing of the 476 digits (in Series C) on the I-476 shield on the APL are a bit off; the 4 and the 7 are positioned too close leaving a noticeable, wider gap between the 7 and the 6. 

A single-line Plymouth Mtg. is used for the I-476 North destination listing rather than the 2-line Plymouth Meeting listing that its predecessor and surrounding signage in this area had/has.

Don't count out Clearview in PA just yet. In the very same interchange, a new BGS for I-476 NB's exit to MacDade Blvd was put up in the last couple of days (probably over the weekend cause I didn't see it last week) with the lone MacDade Blvd control in Clearview (all on one line). They also recently finally added yellow exit only bars at the bottom of the BGSes for I-476 on SB I-95 approaching the split (they never previously had them). I hope that will cut down somewhat on the weaving people are doing when they realize the right two lanes are splitting off.

[PHLBOS]

What's noteworthy about this APL is that it's probably the first PennDOT BGS in years that does not use the Clearview font.  The BGS' just south of this interchange, that were erected just a few years ago all have the destination listings in Clearview.

Don't count out Clearview in PA just yet. In the very same interchange, a new BGS for I-476 NB's exit to MacDade Blvd was put up in the last couple of days (probably over the weekend cause I didn't see it last week) with the lone MacDade Blvd control in Clearview (all on one line). They also recently finally added yellow exit only bars at the bottom of the BGSes for I-476 on SB I-95 approaching the split (they never previously had them). I hope that will cut down somewhat on the weaving people are doing when they realize the right two lanes are splitting off.

I wasn't aware of the new MacDade Blvd. exit BGS; but I did see the yellow EXIT ONLY bars/sections for the existing I-476 BGS' along I-95 South last night (obviously, I do not exit for I-476 North).  I thought something looked somewhat different.

I have to wonder if the new MacDade Blvd. exit BGS in Clearview is from the same package (but a different phase) of the older sign-replacement project along I-95 between there and US 322 East whereas the APL is not (or it came from a different fabricator).

[ekt8750]

A brand-new APL BGS has been erected along I-95 Northbound in Chester at the I-476 interchange replacing the previous-separate BGS panels (I-95 North pull-through & I-476 North (Mac Dade Blvd. pre-Dec. 1991) exit).  The right-turn portion of the shared-lane arrow has a temporary green-out sheet placed over it.   Apparently, PennDOT will be converting the center-lane along I-95 northbound into a shared-lane at this interchange in the foreseable future.

What's noteworthy about this APL is that it's probably the first PennDOT BGS in years that does not use the Clearview font.  The BGS' just south of this interchange, that were erected just a few years ago all have the destination listings in Clearview.  Additionally, the spacing of the 476 digits (in Series C) on the I-476 shield on the APL are a bit off; the 4 and the 7 are positioned too close leaving a noticeable, wider gap between the 7 and the 6. 

A single-line Plymouth Mtg. is used for the I-476 North destination listing rather than the 2-line Plymouth Meeting listing that its predecessor and surrounding signage in this area had/has.

Don't count out Clearview in PA just yet. In the very same interchange, a new BGS for I-476 NB's exit to MacDade Blvd was put up in the last couple of days (probably over the weekend cause I didn't see it last week) with the lone MacDade Blvd control in Clearview (all on one line). They also recently finally added yellow exit only bars at the bottom of the BGSes for I-476 on SB I-95 approaching the split (they never previously had them). I hope that will cut down somewhat on the weaving people are doing when they realize the right two lanes are splitting off.

Wanted to add on to this. There's now a BGS on the ramp from I-95 NB to I-476 directing to MacDade Blvd also in Clearview. I'm thinking the APL in the FHWA font is either a test or a contractor screw up.

[PHLBOS]

Wanted to add on to this. There's now a BGS on the ramp from I-95 NB to I-476 directing to MacDade Blvd also in Clearview.

I saw that BGS while there this past Saturday night.

I'm thinking the APL in the FHWA font is either a test or a contractor screw up.

Given that PennDOT has had prior experience with Highway Gothic installations; I would think the latter (not a bad thing, this time around). 

The only other reason could due ot the fact that the surrounding Clearview BGS' feature a slightly taller (& wider) letter size (at least they're not the super-sized Clearview lettering as seen on the Exit 329 signage along I-76 westbound); which would've made the width of the APL BGS as wide if not wider than the entire northbound I-95 roadbed.