Philly Free Streets Kicks Off Today
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Some Philadelphia Streets are going car-free on Saturday. But drivers who want to park on those streets will feel the effects, starting Friday.
Remember what it was like during the Pope's visit, when you could walk without cars on the streets? That's the thinking behind the second annual "Philly Free Streets" initiative.
It'll prohibit cars on three-and-a-half miles of streets from 3rd and Chestnut to the Latino neighborhood at 5th and Indiana in Fairhill.
Charlotte Castle of the city's Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems says the route was chosen as a bridge between neighborhoods.
"Three-and-a-half miles is a long way. But I think we all, in our head, think that Fairhill is a little farther from Old City than it really will be," said Castle.
The streets -- parts of 3rd, 4th, 5th as well as a section of Germantown Avenue -- all close at 6 a.m. The program kicks off at 8 a.m. at 3rd and Chestnut.
Mayor Jim Kenney will walk the entire route starting at 9 a.m., and there will be no parking allowed along the route starting at noon Friday.