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PA-Gov: Wolf’s Office Releases Plans for Papal Visit

Pope-VisitThe state officially released its plan for Pope Francis’ visit next month.

Pope Francis will be stopping by Philadelphia during the World Meeting of Families on September 26th and 27th.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will close the following roads beginning on Friday, September 25th at 10 p.m.:

  • I-76 eastbound from I-476 to I-95 and I-76 westbound from I-95 to U.S. Route 1 (Roosevelt Extension);
  • I-676 in both directions from I-76 to I-95; and
  • U.S. Route 1 in both directions from U.S. 30 to Belmont Avenue.

The U.S. Secret Service is in charge of planning security for the event.

“Pennsylvania is committed to supporting event planning partners to prepare and help ensure a safe, secure Papal visit for residents of Philadelphia and surrounding areas in addition to all of the visitors from around the world,” Governor Tom Wolf said. “Due to the size and scope of the event and the large crowds expected, Philadelphia and event organizers requested assistance from the commonwealth. We are ready to assist event organizers and planners to keep people safe and make this historic Papal visit to Philadelphia a success.”

“The Pennsylvania State Police will provide vital staffing assistance to the Secret Service and Philadelphia Police,” Governor Wolf continued. “The men and women of the Pennsylvania National Guard – who are our friends, family members and neighbors – will primarily assist with traffic management. They will support law enforcement to keep visitors and residents safe and will play an important supportive role in making sure people can get to, through and from the event.”

A more detailed look at the map included with this piece can be seen here.

8 Responses

  1. Although this is a wonderful thing…I am so upset, my daughter is getting married that weekend, which is going to cause such a problem for my family to travel! All the work, time and money we have put into this wedding over the last two years, to now have this thrown into the mix! This scares the heck out of me! I don’t know how to tell my family they should plan their ride! I have allot of people traveling the NJ turnpike and the garden state parkway! I wish I knew how much this is going to effect these roads! This is such a special day, and my daughter is so upset at the commotion this is going to cause! You know people do have plans that can’t be changed, such as a wedding and this has really put a damper on things! I don’t know how to tell people to plan! This is crazy!

  2. is philly such a one-horse town that it can’t welcome him without going on lockdown? can anyone imagine NYC or DC doing something like this?

  3. We’re idiots…this guy is the head of multi billion tax free group that is closing church’s where believers once praised the lord….claiming the Catholic Church is broke…what…how about the recent multimillion dollar priest abuse settlement in Michigan….oh never mind…the P is worried about climate change…right…world leader…hummm

  4. Let’s not forget, that is around Hurricane season. Imagine if there is huge torrential storm that weekend.

    The plan assumes hoards of people will be roaming the streets and cars would not be able to pass or would interfere with the pedestrians.

    So, what happens if there are heavy rains and few pedestrians?

    I’m hoping there are more pranksters (than police) who will remove the simple wooden barriers for this idiotic “green zone” so that cars a can get in and out during hours when the zombie hoards aren’t roaming the streets, as this ill conceived plan presupposes.

    Let’s hope common sense prevails for the DNC convention next year.

  5. David brings up a very valid point regarding the complete lack of thought that went into this “plan.”

    While it agreed that there will be a large number of people visiting the city, there is already a large number of people CURRENTLY in the city who live here. There has been exactly 0 consideration offered for their needs.

    Like it was stated before, the logistics of a large city demand a constant supply chain, and with this interrupted, issues will undoubtedly crop up. Needless to say that none of the politicians making these “plans” will be effected by their policies, but the people? They, like in most other times during this city’s history, will simply have to suffer and deal.

    I would suggest that a better plan for the Pope’s visit would have been to move it from inside Center City to a more remote location, like the Navy Yard, for example. The way things are, there will be a huge number of people, all over the parkway, and there will be no supply trucks allowed to travel on some of the major highways through the city…. Good Luck with that, I, for one, will remain as far away from the Pope’s visit as possible.

  6. Where was all this security when Hitchbot was getting destroyed?

    Seriously, this is pure inconvenience and martial law with no security justification.

    These closures are far removed from the Pope’s location. Cordon off 3 blocks around the Pope and the parkway for the gathering.

    There is no reason to cut off traffic on 76 between 476 and Montgomery ave, especially for the whole weekend.

    The Ben Franklin bridge shouldn’t be closed. It should be free.

    Septa should just run at capacity, like rush hour squared.

    I get that there are massive traffic issues, but these aren’t justified security issues. We don’t do 1% of this when the president visits. This police state mentality has got to go.

    How does this plan deal with trucks bringing supplies into the city? Food, fuel, mail/packages, trash transportation, etc?

    But, with all this, are they halting the dangerous oil trains that barrel through the city on decaying infrastructure? What would happen if there was an oil train derailment?

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