October 20, 2017
THom Carroll/PhillyVoice
A family riding down the car-free Ben Franklin Parkway on the Saturday during Pope Francis' visit.
The Philly Free Streets event taking place on Saturday, Oct. 28 will cause a number of road closures, parking restrictions and SEPTA detours from Old City to Fairhill.
Vehicular traffic will be restricted along the route, allowing residents to enjoy a lengthy stretch of streets free of cars. Various programs and activities – including Pokemon GO – will be scattered throughout the route, which passes through several neighborhoods.
Philly Free Streets is the second event of its kind, having been inspired by the open streets that organically occurred during the papal visit in 2015.
All that fun requires the following road closures, parking restrictions and SEPTA detours. They are listed below.
This map from a Friday press conference shows the stretch of streets that will be closed to cars for Philadelphia's next Philly Free Streets event, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28.
Portions of the following 11 roads will be closed to cars beginning at 6 a.m. on Oct. 28.
• Chestnut Street from 2nd Street to 5th Street
• 3rd Street from Walnut Street to Wood Street
• Vine Street from 3rd Street to 4th Street
• 4th Street from Vine Street to Fairmount Avenue
• Fairmount Avenue from 4th Street to 3rd Street
• 3rd Street from Fairmount Avenue to Germantown Avenue
• Thompson Street from Orianna Street to Germantown Avenue
• Germantown Avenue from Thompson Street to Berks Street
• 4th Street from Oxford Street to Jefferson Street
• Oxford Street from Lawrence Street to 4th Street
• 5th Street from Cecil B. Moore Avenue to Clearfield Street
Motorists are advised to avoid the area by using alternate routes and to allow for extra time when driving near the event.
One-way streets that feed into the route will be controlled by police and designated as local access only. Information on specific streets can be found here.
Though most intersections along the route will be closed to vehicular traffic, 11 cross streets will remain open to vehicles traveling east or west. Motorists should expect delays.
Here are the streets where motorists can cross:
• Walnut Street
• Market Street
• Arch Street
• Callowhill Street
• Spring Garden Street
• Girard Avenue
• Cecil B. Moore Avenue
• Berks Street
• Susquehanna Avenue
• Lehigh Avenue
• Clearfield Street
In addition to the event route, parking will be prohibited along the following streets beginning at noon on Friday, Oct. 27:
• Dauphin Street from Reese Street to 5th Street
• Cumberland Street from Reese Street to 5th Street
• Huntingdon Street from Reese Street to Orkney Street
• Somerset Street from Reese Street to Orkney Street
• Cambria Street from Reese Street to 5th Street
• Indiana Avenue from Reese Street to Orkney Street
• Callowhill Street from 2nd Street to 6th Street
• Delaware Avenue from Spring Garden Street to Frankford Avenue (east side)
• Lehigh Avenue from 5th Street to 8th Street (north side)
• Parking restrictions will lift at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Any vehicles with a residential parking permit for zone No. 10 will be permitted to park within zone No. 25 beginning at noon on Friday, Oct. 27 through 7 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 30.
Also, the following SEPTA bus routes will be detoured around the Philly Free Streets event:
• Route 5 (beginning at 10 p.m. on Oct. 27)
• Route 9 (beginning at 2 a.m. on Oct. 28)
• Route 21 (beginning at 2 a.m. on Oct. 28)
• Route 42 (beginning at 2 a.m. on Oct. 28)
• Route 39 (beginning at 2 a.m. on Oct. 28)
• Route 47 (beginning at 10 p.m. on Oct. 27)
• Route 57 (beginning at 2 a.m. on Oct. 28)
Bus detour routes can be found here.
The Broad Street and Market Frankford lines will operate on their normal weekend schedules.
