Prepare for Travel Madness on the Parkway This Week

Courtesy City of Philadelphia

We told you to start planning for the 2017 NFL Draft Experience earlier this month – and hopefully you paid attention. The biggest – and worst – bulk of street closures will kick in tonight and tomorrow – and they’re sure to cause traffic snarls, congestion, bike-lane detours and headaches galore. 

The three-day football festival will run between April 27-29th, and it’s expected to bring as many as 200,000 people to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Eakins Oval. To put things in perspective, Pope Francis’s 2015 visit brought about 142,000 people to the Parkway, according to crowd experts.

The road closures have been rolling out in multiple phases since April 10th, and they’ll last until May 8th. Here’s what you need to know, per the city’s official list of street closures:

Between April 24th and May 1st:

Courtesy City of Philadelphia

• Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be closed from 20th Street to the Art Museum.

• Martin Luther King Drive will remain open to 24th Street.

• Eastbound Spring Garden Street will remain open from 31st Street to 24th Street.

• Kelly Drive will be closed at Fairmount Avenue with traffic detoured onto Fairmount Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue.

• Starting at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 24th, traffic headed inbound (to Center City) from the Spring Garden Street Bridge or Martin Luther King Drive must exit Eakins Oval on the 24th Street ramp.  Traffic headed inbound on Kelly Drive must exit Kelly Drive at Fairmount Avenue. Those wishing to access the rear of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the north side must exit onto Fairmount Avenue, turn right on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed southbound on 25th Street onto Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive.

Between April 25th and May 1st:

Courtesy City of Philadelphia

• 21st Street closed from Winter Street to Spring Garden Street
  • Local access to Pennsylvania Avenue only (all traffic must turn left)

• 22nd Street closed from Race Street to Spring Garden Street
  • Local access to Park Towne Place only (residents)

• 23rd Street closed from Fairmount Avenue to Benjamin Franklin Parkway
  • Local access only

• 24th Street closed from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Park Towne Place
  • Local access only

• Martin Luther King Drive closed at Sweet Briar Drive.
  • Road opened daily during peak morning rush hour on April 27th and April 28th (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) for access to I-676 via 24th Street

• Kelly Drive closed from Benjamin Franklin Parkway to Fairmount Avenue

• Spring Garden Street Bridge closed at 31st Street
  • Road opened daily during peak a.m. rush hour on April 27th and April 28th (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) for access to I-676 via 24th Street
  • Access to I-76 westbound will be maintained
  • Local access to Art Museum will be maintained

• Spring Garden Street closed from 22nd Street to Benjamin Franklin Parkway
  • Local access after peak a.m. rush hour
• Pennsylvania Avenue closed from Hamilton Street to Fairmount Avenue
  • Local access after peak a.m. rush hour
• Pennsylvania Avenue/Callowhill Street closed from 20th Street to 21st Street
  • Local access to Barnes Foundation driveway (westbound) only
  • Eastbound open from 21st Street
• Park Towne Place closed from 22nd Street to 24th Street
  • Local access only (residents)
• I-676 westbound 22nd Street off-ramp closed
• The following streets be designated “local access only” west of 22nd Street:
  • Wallace Street
  • Mt. Vernon Street
  • Green Street
  • Judson Street
  • Brandywine Street

Between April 5th and May 8th, parking will not be permitted on:

• 2400 Pennsylvania Avenue (south side angle parking only)
• Pennsylvania Avenue between 22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue (south side of street only)
• Winter Street between 20th & 22nd Streets (both sides of street)
• 20th Street between Vine & Callowhill Streets (east side of street only)
• 21st Street between Benjamin Franklin Parkway & Race Street (both sides of street)
• 22nd Street between Winter & Spring Garden Streets (both sides of street)
• Park Towne Place between 22nd & 24th Streets (both sides of street)
• 2400 Pennsylvania Avenue (south side angle parking only)

Courtesy City of Philadelphia

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