SEPTA Trolley Tunnel, which connects West Philadelphia with Center City, will be closed for the annual maintenance from July 7 through July 24 for the annual “Trolley Tunnel Blitz.”

The tunnel closure will impact trolley routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36, all of which will temporarily divert to 40th and Market, where riders can transfer to/from the Market-Frankford Line to continue their travel.

A temporary shelter will be set up for riders switching to/from the Market-Frankford Line. The trolley diversion map is available here.

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University of Pennsylvania students are moving out of the dorms this week, which means a portion of Spruce Street will be closed to all vehicular traffic to accommodate the process.

Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 40th Streets on Tuesday, May 9 and Wednesday, May 10, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Delays should be expected in the area during these times. SEPTA buses will be on detour.

Access to the PennVet Ryan Animal Hospital will be via 38th Street.

Here are a couple of important announcements for Philadelphia motorists, as parking restriction enforcement begins today to accommodate street sweeping and the safe use of bike lanes for bicyclists.

The Streets Department reminds motorists that enforcement in all 14 areas of the City’s Mechanical Cleaning Program begins on Monday, May 1. Phase III of the program began on April 3 and to facilitate a more detailed cleaning, there will be restricted street parking on streets wide enough to accommodate relocation of vehicles. Motorists that do not adhere to posted “No Parking” signs will be subject to fines.

“No Parking” signage during specified times will be enforced beginning today in all 14 areas, including the following West Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia areas:

• West Philly: Parkside Ave. to Spring Garden St. from 52nd St. to 40th St.
• Southwest: Woodland Ave. to Kingsessing Ave. from 49th St. to Cemetery Ave. Continue Reading

The two plans under consideration for Woodland Avenue near the intersection with Chester Avenue and down to 42nd Street.

Traffic lights and crosswalks are coming to the section of Woodland Avenue near The Woodlands cemetery and the intersection with Chester Avenue.

Visitors to The Woodlands know that crossing Woodland Avenue at the awkward intersection at Chester or the trolley portal can get a little dicey. But a new plan unveiled last night at a Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) meeting will slow traffic along Woodland and close down the little section of 41st Street that often baffles drivers and pedestrians alike.

“The whole project is about user safety, whether you’re a pedestrian, a cyclist or a driver,” Julie Bush of the landscape architecture firm Ground Reconsidered told the SHCA board. Continue Reading

SEPTA is pushing back the revamping of its bus routes and schedules – a project dubbed “Bus Revolution” – until Fall 2024 after riders criticized the plan in a public meeting earlier this week.

SEPTA officials have said that the changes would streamline the system by prioritizing busy routes. But riders and public officials complained in a City Council hearing on Monday that the elimination of some stops and routes would be disruptive to many passengers, including students and seniors. The current plan reduces the number of routes from 125 to 99 but would increase the frequency of buses on high frequency routes like the 52 along 52nd Street.

SEPTA officials said they would revise the project and have an update in early spring and begin a new round of community hearings in the spring and summer.

This would be the first major overhaul of the bus system in 60 years.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Monday on SEPTA’s Bus Revolution project, the plan to overhaul its bus network, which has drawn criticism from residents and elected officials.

The council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities will hold a virtual public hearing beginning at 10 a.m. “to examine the approach and expected impacts of SEPTA’s Bus Revolution service reconfiguration.”

SEPTA’s plan cuts several routes and prioritizes high-use routes – like the 52 through West Philly – with promises of shorter wait times and more direct routes. But riders have complained that the changes will leave some residents, including some in Southwest Philly, with diminished service. Continue Reading