West Conshohocken and Conshohocken Prepare for Papal Visit

While there is no evidence that attendance projections (originally as high as two million) are going to be met for the Papal Visit, local municipalities are still planning to deal with the potential impact of road/rail closures implemented for the weekend of September 25-27.

Why do we say there is no evidence? It has been widely reported that 30% of the hotel rooms in Philadelphia are still empty, the camping plan was cancelled after two days, and the Metro interviewed Amtrak and airline officials who report that they are busy, but not unusually busy. SEPTA is also still sitting on tens of thousands of special tickets for that weekend.

Conshohocken and West Conshohocken are in a unique position because they sit right at the spot where they are closing 76. So if someone is coming east bound on 76 and want to get to anywhere in Lafayette Hill, Roxborough, Manayunk, etc, they are likely going to cut through the Conshohockens.

In West Conshohocken a state of emergency has been declared (see the image below) and in Conshohocken the police department has issued an advisory (see the image below). Both basically warn that due to potential traffic cutting through the boroughs, be prepared for the worst and consider the road closures if you do need to go somewhere. The big restriction existing within the Conshohockens is the center lane of the Matsonford Bridge, which will be reserved for emergency vehicles.

 

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Conshy Police Pope