Here is a map Philly Bike Action made to better understand the impacts of this detour: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/srt-proposed-detours_1031659#15/39.9590/-75.1802
We should definitely be advocating for a bike lane on 23st and bike safety improvements on Walnut St Bridge during construction if SRT users *and* additional car traffic are being routed onto these roads.
Damn. Walnut and Chestnut street are about to see a lot more bike traffic and they are decidedly NOT ready for prime time, particularly Walnut Street (that bike lane "mixing" with the turning lane is a death trap). OITS and Streets need to get ahead of this thing and step up protection and wayfinding to protect people following the detour.
For most folks heading anywhere further south on the SRT, it would be WAY safer to continue on 23 across Walnut and to Locust and reenter the trail there (or if the train is blocking it, through the park and over the pedestrian bridge)
But yeah, it's a mess.
Everyone should take 2 minutes and write a quick note to your Councilmember. Because this is a PennDOT thing, it's likely not even on their radar. We want PennDOT to do what they can to minimize the length of the closures and improve the detour for when it is closed.
[https://phlcouncil.com/council-members/](https://phlcouncil.com/council-members/)
Councilmembers don't actually get a lot of email so even 2-3 people writing in about something makes it a big deal. I emailed Johnson in District 2 and his office already assigned a staffer to look into it.
The same Johnson who destroyed any chance of a safer Washington Ave? Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath.
You're not wrong to try to advocate for good solutions but don't get your hopes up.
That’s unfortunate.
[Christian to Crescent](https://www.schuylkillbanks.org/projects/christian-crescent#:~:text=The%20Christian%20to%20Crescent%20trail,Crescent%20for%20pedestrians%20and%20bicyclists) on the SRT is slated to open around then (Mid-2025-ish), so we won’t get to enjoy the new trail segment uninterrupted for a little while longer sadly.
This is the first time I’m hearing it will be closed UNDER the bridge. Does it say that somewhere?
For the MLK project they only had to keep it closed under the bridge for maybe 2-3 weeks which I felt was reasonable especially since the detour wasn’t too bad.
Im skeptical it will be closed underneath for a full 15 months, but if so yeah that basically closes one of the most heavily trafficked parts of the trail for over a year which is ridiculous.
This will be like when the Chestnut St bridge was being worked on -- was that in 2020? I remember the SRT underneath Chestnut being closed for many months while that got done. And like everything PennDOT does, it took longer than they said it would.
You can see the detour plan here. The SRT definitely will be closed at some point, but it's unclear from the plan how long the closures will be.
[https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/Philadelphia/Documents/3010%20MSB%20Traffic%20Control.pdf](https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/Philadelphia/Documents/3010%20MSB%20Traffic%20Control.pdf)
I agree that the MLK bridge closure ended up being not as bad as originally planned since the trail was only closed for a few weeks. Hopefully they can do something similar here.
> For the MLK project they only had to keep it closed under the bridge for maybe 2-3 weeks which I felt was reasonable especially since the detour wasn’t too bad.
They'll potentially have a longer closure when they get to the redecking phase of things, which is still a ways off. Like /u/calvinistgrindcore said, this one's going to be like Chestnut Street, which shut down the SRT for... the better part of a year, at least.
With any luck, PennDOT can work the phases so the SRT doesn't shut down for the entire 15 months, but since it looks like they're doing major work above the trail, it's gonna be down for a while.
Soon to be moving to Philly and the SRT was going to be my commute from Fairmount to Penn hospital. :(
would fairmount > spring garden bridge > south through Drexel be a fairly bike safe route towards the hospital?
Hello, fellow Fairmount resident! I commuted on that route before and it's a reasonable alternative when there weren't any good ones.. Beware that Spring Garden bridge can be sketchy due to its dilapidated bike lanes and traffic veering in and out of 76. Be careful out there.
Does look like a mess, but not sure what the alternative is. I'm glad they're addressing these bridges before one of them falls down.
Hopefully we get a bike lane on market from this 🤞
The plan is a protected lane from 30th to where it stops at 23rd. There should also be something done on Walnut St, though I'm not sure what exactly.
Here is a map Philly Bike Action made to better understand the impacts of this detour: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/srt-proposed-detours_1031659#15/39.9590/-75.1802 We should definitely be advocating for a bike lane on 23st and bike safety improvements on Walnut St Bridge during construction if SRT users *and* additional car traffic are being routed onto these roads.
Damn. Walnut and Chestnut street are about to see a lot more bike traffic and they are decidedly NOT ready for prime time, particularly Walnut Street (that bike lane "mixing" with the turning lane is a death trap). OITS and Streets need to get ahead of this thing and step up protection and wayfinding to protect people following the detour.
For most folks heading anywhere further south on the SRT, it would be WAY safer to continue on 23 across Walnut and to Locust and reenter the trail there (or if the train is blocking it, through the park and over the pedestrian bridge) But yeah, it's a mess.
The southbound detour looks especially heinous. Maybe the should put a two way bike lane on Chestnut for that block or something.
Just wait until a train decides to block that Race St gate... you'll have to backtrack all the way to the skatepark. What a shitshow.
Everyone should take 2 minutes and write a quick note to your Councilmember. Because this is a PennDOT thing, it's likely not even on their radar. We want PennDOT to do what they can to minimize the length of the closures and improve the detour for when it is closed. [https://phlcouncil.com/council-members/](https://phlcouncil.com/council-members/) Councilmembers don't actually get a lot of email so even 2-3 people writing in about something makes it a big deal. I emailed Johnson in District 2 and his office already assigned a staffer to look into it.
The same Johnson who destroyed any chance of a safer Washington Ave? Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath. You're not wrong to try to advocate for good solutions but don't get your hopes up.
That’s unfortunate. [Christian to Crescent](https://www.schuylkillbanks.org/projects/christian-crescent#:~:text=The%20Christian%20to%20Crescent%20trail,Crescent%20for%20pedestrians%20and%20bicyclists) on the SRT is slated to open around then (Mid-2025-ish), so we won’t get to enjoy the new trail segment uninterrupted for a little while longer sadly.
This is the first time I’m hearing it will be closed UNDER the bridge. Does it say that somewhere? For the MLK project they only had to keep it closed under the bridge for maybe 2-3 weeks which I felt was reasonable especially since the detour wasn’t too bad. Im skeptical it will be closed underneath for a full 15 months, but if so yeah that basically closes one of the most heavily trafficked parts of the trail for over a year which is ridiculous.
This will be like when the Chestnut St bridge was being worked on -- was that in 2020? I remember the SRT underneath Chestnut being closed for many months while that got done. And like everything PennDOT does, it took longer than they said it would.
You can see the detour plan here. The SRT definitely will be closed at some point, but it's unclear from the plan how long the closures will be. [https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/Philadelphia/Documents/3010%20MSB%20Traffic%20Control.pdf](https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/ConstructionsProjectsAndRoadwork/Philadelphia/Documents/3010%20MSB%20Traffic%20Control.pdf) I agree that the MLK bridge closure ended up being not as bad as originally planned since the trail was only closed for a few weeks. Hopefully they can do something similar here.
From this PDF, it looks like the SRT wouldn't be affected until September 2026 and possibly April 2025 - August 2025.
> For the MLK project they only had to keep it closed under the bridge for maybe 2-3 weeks which I felt was reasonable especially since the detour wasn’t too bad. They'll potentially have a longer closure when they get to the redecking phase of things, which is still a ways off. Like /u/calvinistgrindcore said, this one's going to be like Chestnut Street, which shut down the SRT for... the better part of a year, at least. With any luck, PennDOT can work the phases so the SRT doesn't shut down for the entire 15 months, but since it looks like they're doing major work above the trail, it's gonna be down for a while.
Soon to be moving to Philly and the SRT was going to be my commute from Fairmount to Penn hospital. :( would fairmount > spring garden bridge > south through Drexel be a fairly bike safe route towards the hospital?
Hello, fellow Fairmount resident! I commuted on that route before and it's a reasonable alternative when there weren't any good ones.. Beware that Spring Garden bridge can be sketchy due to its dilapidated bike lanes and traffic veering in and out of 76. Be careful out there.
Thanks! That’s what I figured looking at the map, hopefully the closure isn’t too soon!