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Pope Francis

Pope's visit to bring traffic woes to Philly region

Brittany Horn
The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
Pope Francis has his portrait taken by a boy as he arrives in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

WILMINGTON, Del. — For those on the East Coast that think beach weekend traffic is bad, just wait until Pope Francis arrives.

Major roadways around Philadelphia will be closed or significantly restricted for the majority of the pope’s weekend events Saturday, Sept. 26, and Sunday, Sept. 27, authorities said Wednesday.

Some closures, like the Benjamin Franklin Bridge between Philadelphia and New Jersey — which will be shut down for the entire weekend, will begin as early as 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, and span until about noon on Monday, Sept. 28. The bridge will remain open for pedestrians throughout the weekend.

National Guardsmen will also be brought in to handle traffic control throughout the weekend, as per a request from the U.S. Secret Service. The Delaware Guard also has the trained personnel the job would demand, including Army military police and Air Force security police.

“We are available to assist if needed,” said Delaware National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Len Gratteri. But, he said, “We haven’t been asked.”

Pennsylvania, with nearly 20,000 full- and part-time guardsmen, and New Jersey, with more than 10,000 members, probably have the necessary manpower to handle the mission, he noted.

For those traveling on Interstate 95, the roadway will remain open to traffic, authorities said, but some ramps will be closed. Sections of Interstates 76 and 676 and a portion of U.S. Route 1 also will be closed for the weekend, starting at 10 p.m. Friday.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter advised travelers to get into the city as early as 6 p.m. Friday, as a 3-square-mile area extending north and south of the city center and a portion of west Philadelphia will be closed to all incoming traffic except emergency vehicles.

Nutter said vehicles will be able to move around within the zone, but if they leave, they won't be able to return during the pope's weekend visit.

SEPTA also sold one-day special transit passes through an online lottery. It says it received requests for 328,045 passes during Monday’s one-day sale.

Hotel rooms are already scarce in the area and AAA Mid-Atlantic said Wednesday that people are renting hotels more than an hour away to see the religious figure for this “once-in-a-lifetime event.”

“You might want to treat the Pope’s visit like an approaching snowstorm," spokesman Jim Lardear said. “Make sure you get everything you need from the grocery store ahead of time and stock up on DVDs and video games, too.”

People living nearby could also try a mini-getaway to avoid the extra traffic on the roads and potential headaches for residents as far away as Delaware, he added.

Authorities have acknowledged that traffic may be a nightmare — more than 1,000 Pennsylvania state troopers have been called to help direct the large influx expected for the weekend. More than 1 million people are expected to attend the weekend events, including an international gathering of Roman Catholic families and an outdoor Mass.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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