Drivers can expect even more congestion than usual around 30th Street Station with construction on Market Street bridges beginning next week.
From Wednesday, March 25, to Monday, June 1, 30th Street will be closed to southbound traffic between JFK Boulevard and Market Street, and westbound traffic on Market Street will be reduced to one lane between Schuylkill Avenue and 30th Street, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said Wednesday.
Motorists traveling to Market Street via 30th Street will be detoured to turn right on JFK Boulevard to access Market Street near 32nd Street instead. Limited traffic will be permitted for access to the west entrance of 30th Street Station. Cyclists will be detoured to Chestnut and Walnut streets.
Anyone planning on traveling through the area is recommended to anticipate “significant backups and delays” near the work area and detour route, PennDOT said.
The closures are enacted while structural repairs and utility work are completed near the Market Street bridges over Amtrak and the Schuylkill Expressway, part of a $148.9 million Market Street Bridges Rehabilitation and Improvement Project.
Work on the projects began last March on bridges that pass over Amtrak, I-76, the Schuylkill River Trail and CSX Railroad.
The entire project will take at least four years to complete, but it will pause between June 1 and Aug. 7 as city hosts World Cup matches and celebrates America’s 250th anniversary.