July 4 in Philly- Traffic? (Indiana: restaurant, prices, bars)

[Leps12]

Originally Posted by chessimprov

Maybe for you, it was exaggerated. For me, I had to add an hour each way to my commute basically when the Pope visited.
And for the Super Bowl, I guess you didn't try crossing Broad St. twice right after the Eagles won?
It can be a combat zone, but it just depends where you are and when. I just happen to kinda like going through it, lol.

I wasn’t actually there for the Pope. But I remember all of the hype leading up to it, and then in the aftermath, people I know said it ended up not being a huge deal.

As for the Super Bowl, we walked through Broad after the victory. Probably left the city around two hours after the game ended or so. Getting out wasn’t any worse than typical rush hour traffic I’m used to.

Don’t know how it was for the victory parade or the DNC. It’s not out of the question for us to use PATCO to 15th/16th, just a couple of logistical hurdles.

[Pennsport]

I can't really weigh in on the traffic, as I've never had to drive in the city on the 4th, but I believe Camden is hosting a riverfront fireworks event during the same time as the event on the Parkway. From what I understand, it's a fantastic view from the Philly side of the Delaware. Just something else to consider as the that would most likely be easier to get to via driving and/or PATCO.

[1ondoner]

I attended the concert and fireworks by the bridge on 4th of July a couple of years ago. Other than finding parking, traffic was no worse than midweek traffic into and out of the city (in my case, via the Schuylkill highway). You should be OK if you can book parking in advance using one of the many parking apps.

To be honest, I was more pissed of by the smokers in the crowds than by traffic. I can't remember encountering this much smoking in public events.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

Take the train and other public transportation. Use Uber/Lyft if you can't walk to a place, or public transit isn't convenient.

I'd recommend not getting involved with any car transit at all and there will be detours and some street closures.
The congestion leaving the show can be monumental with it frequently not clearing up until way after midnight. 7/5 is not a holiday for a lot of people too. Center City's popularity is part of the reason. Long gone are the days when one could sit on the lawn near the Philadelphian Condo and watch it all. I remember doing that years ago when my oldest niece was a baby. She will be 53 years old tomorrow.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Leps12

Yeah, I was just unsure because I was there for the Super Bowl, and it honestly wasn’t that bad getting in and out then. And I remember there was a big hubbub a few years back for the Pope visit and it being traffic and parking Armageddon, and that claim ended up being quite exaggerated as well.

The Pope visit was compounded by all of the street closures.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Actually it isn't all that bad, the worst part of 4th traffic is the peak times to the shore




Here is my take; drive in and park in the lot between 15th and 16th on Vine (the southern Vine) - AVOID trying to loop back around to 676 at Broad - head a little further east and you will be totally fine


That puts you close to the parkway; when you leave take 15th to Race (east) and on whatever bridge you desire




Honestly it really won be much of an issue heading in at all; leaving may have a little back up getting out of the immediate area but should not be more than an extra 10 (maybe 15 max) minutes

Yes, leaving is the problem.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by kyb01

I'd recommend not getting involved with any car transit at all and there will be detours and some street closures.
The congestion leaving the show can be monumental with it frequently not clearing up until way after midnight. 7/5 is not a holiday for a lot of people too. Center City's popularity is part of the reason. Long gone are the days when one could sit on the lawn near the Philadelphian Condo and watch it all. I remember doing that years ago when my oldest niece was a baby. She will be 53 years old tomorrow.

Yes, getting out is the problem.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Leps12

Yeah, I was just unsure because I was there for the Super Bowl, and it honestly wasn’t that bad getting in and out then. And I remember there was a big hubbub a few years back for the Pope visit and it being traffic and parking Armageddon, and that claim ended up being quite exaggerated as well.

Leps, your moms here are telling you to not park in the city. Don't make us tell you that we told you so.

[Redddog]

The Pope visit was a huge dud. My brother-in-law headed the entire transportation logistics team and it was a fraction of the people they estimated for. Not only that but the city planned for this huge uptick in restaurant and bar traffic and it turned out that all the people who came were so holy and frugal, they never went into the restaurants and bars.

Everyone I know who owns bars lost money that weekend.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Redddog

The Pope visit was a huge dud. My brother-in-law headed the entire transportation logistics team and it was a fraction of the people they estimated for. Not only that but the city planned for this huge uptick in restaurant and bar traffic and it turned out that all the people who came were so holy and frugal, they never went into the restaurants and bars.

Everyone I know who owns bars lost money that weekend.

Two things here, was closing Center City streets really necessary regardless of the crowd estimates? If the Pope's visit was limited to the areas of Independence Mall and the Parkway, was it really necessary to close every street in Center City for the weekend? That is obviously going to greatly dissuade the usual Center City traffic from doing business in the area.

Second, the City scared the heck out of the public about how bad security and crowds would be - they basically said that people should stay away. This became apparent in the couple weeks leading up to the event that most people were going to stay away due to the messaging from the City. Things went so far that the Philadelphia delegation went into damage control mode and reached out to the Pope to have him make a statement about how people should come see him in the days leading up to the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1rO1_sK_oQ