SEPTA is conducting trolley track work this summer on the Routes 10, 11, and 36 and residents should expect shuttle buses on these lines and limited traffic on the affected blocks.

A switch and track crossing renewal project for the intersection of 49th Street and Woodland Avenue will take place June 9-22 and service on SEPTA’s Route 11 and 36 trolleys will be affected during this two-week period. Normal construction hours will be Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. and possibly on weekends if it is necessary for maintaining the project schedule. During the project, 49th Street and Woodland Avenue will be closed to traffic in all directions for a full block from the worksite. Here are more details on the changes in the operation of the 36 and 11 trolleys for the duration of the project (source: septa.org).

Route 36 Service:
• Buses will replace all trolleys from the Eastwick Loop to the 40th Street Portal.
Passengers traveling to Center City can board any trolley at the Portal for service to 13th
Street.

Route 11 Service:
• Eastbound, Route 11 trolleys will operate from the Darby Loop to 50th Street and
Woodland Avenue, then travel over 49th Street to Chester Avenue and on to the 40th
Street Portal for Center City destinations. Passengers needing to make stops on
Woodland between 50th Street and the 40th Street Portal can transfer to shuttle buses at
50th and Woodland.
• Westbound, trolleys will operate from 13th to 40th Streets via the Center City tunnel, then
travel on Woodland Avenue to Chester Avenue to 58th Street and back to Woodland for
service to the Darby Loop. Shuttle buses will be available at the 40th Street Portal for
customers that need to make stops on Woodland between the Portal and 57th Street.

SEPTA is also conducting a track renewal project on a portion of the Route 10 trolley line. During this project, which is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2013, tracks will be replaced on Lancaster Avenue from 40th to 44th Streets, the intersection at 48th Street and on 41st Street between Wallace Street and Lancaster Avenue.

The project will be completed in three phases. Shuttle bus service for the Route 10 trolley will be in effect between 63rd Street and Malvern Avenue to 33rd and Market Streets for the project’s second and third phases, June 23-August 31, 2013. Buses will also substitute trolley service on the Route 15 from August 18-24. For more information, visit SEPTA’s website or call SEPTA Customer Service at 215-580-7800.

SEPTA has announced new schedules for a number of trolley and bus routes effective June 9. Schedule changes will affect all the trolleys serving West Philadelphia (Route 10, 11, 13, 15, 34, 36) and buses such as Route 21, 42, 43, 44, 52, 64, 65, and Route G. You can download new schedules on the SEPTA website (follow this link).
 

Proposed draft drawing of Babylon Bistro’s storefront.

Although West Philly’s home to several excellent ethnic restaurant spots, there’s still a void of one menu offering plates that satisfy a broad range of palates. And that’s a gap Aksum Cafe and Seeds Gallery owner Saba Tedla plans to close when she opens her second eatery, Babylon Bistro at 5021-5023 Baltimore Avenue in Spring 2014.

According to Tedla, Babylon Bistro will cater to neighborhood folk who like ethnic fare but also want their “basic American food” (think specialty sandwiches). The contemporary menu as envisioned will offer small and large plate portions much like Aksum, but will cover an eclectic variety of regions and concepts that serve a diverse community.

While a lack of a “range of selection of menu” was a common complaint Tedla heard in two community discussion forums she held in developing the bistro’s concept, another was the lack of brunch and breakfast options. To that end, she plans to open Babylon Bistro for breakfast daily, as well as offer brunch on the weekends. As for serving alcohol, Tedla said the idea is to operate a BYOB spot on the onset, and that pursing a liquor license is “a long-term objective.”

“As a resident of the neighborhood, I am focused on the business void of the community and the advantage is having a better understanding of the neighborhood business needs,” she said.

But Babylon Bistro won’t only check off the food boxes. The combined lower area of 5021 and 5023 Baltimore Aves will come to a sprawling 2,000 square feet, making the bistro the second largest restaurant in the immediate neighborhood and the first largest on the Baltimore corridor, said Tedla. She plans to implement an open floor plan in Babylon’s scheme with floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors that’ll serve as windows—a chic décor that “completely opens the space” and can comfortably sit 75-100 patrons without much of a wait.

Although Tedla has a strong vision in mind for Babylon Bistro, she does note the menu and concept are still in the development stages, and will be fully fleshed out once a chef is identified. She is currently interviewing potential candidates, as well as pursuing other options.

Craig King of Ventures Abby Real Estate also plans to operate a restaurant at 5037 Baltimore Avenue, not far from Babylon’s pending home. While King hasn’t returned interview requests, we do know from Cedar Park Neighbors it will possibly be a 75-seat sit-down restaurant with weekend music entertainment.

–Annamarya Scaccia

A serious fire was reported this afternoon at a junkyard in Southwest Philadelphia. West Philly Local readers reported seeing lots of dark smoke in that area and some smoke was visible in the sky from as far as 42nd and Walnut Streets. The fire broke out around 4 p.m. at Automated Waste Solutions Inc. at 1620 South 49th Street (near 49th St and Grays Ave), 6ABC reports. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

Photo by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local

A 2-alarm fire this morning at an abandoned five-story apartment building at 4726 Chestnut Street prompted evacuation of people from an adjacent building. The fire broke out shortly after 6 a.m. and was under control around 7 a.m. The fire started on the first floor of the building. No one was injured, according to Deputy Fire Chief James Bonner.

The building is part of a row of attached apartment buildings along the south side of the block. Nine people were evacuated from the building at 4724 Chestnut and the building at 4728 Chestnut, also abandoned, sustained heavy damage.

Please note that Route 21 bus is currently on detour due to the fire. For more information, go to Septa’s website.

Update: The American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania (2221 Chestnut St.) is helping all nine people (five families altogether) displaced by the fire. The families will be given meals, a place to stay, and full casework services, all for free, according to Red Cross spokesperson Dave Schrader. If you would like to help, you can donate money to the disaster relief fund at redcrossphilly.org or to the local Red Cross House endowment fund by calling 215 405 8801.

Aspire Rx owner Hetal Chudasama. (Photo by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local)

A few months ago we wrote about the new independently owned pharmacy that opened right across the street from CVS on Locust Street near 43rd. The store’s location raised some eyebrows. So this week we decided to check back in to see how things were going at Aspire.

Aspire’s owner, Hetal Chudasama, knows better than most the risk she took in locating across the street from the big box behemoth. She managed CVS’s pharmacy for a few years and began working there in 2002.

“I’ve taken all of the things I’ve seen over the years and made them better,” Chudasama said.

While the pharmacists at CVS focus on quantity, a sort of churn-and-burn style of filling prescriptions, Chudasama slows the process of getting medication down to make sure patients get what they need.

“My number one thing is to talk to the patient and give them my time,” she said.

Aspire is one of a growing number of independently owned pharmacies popping up in small towns and big cities across the country. While in the 1970s and 1980s most pharmacies in the country were independently owned, the number started to nose-dive in the 1990s as big-big box stores like CVS and Rite Aid began to dominate the market. Even Wal-Mart and Target got into the pharmacy game as a way to get customers into the stores.

But independents are making a comeback, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association. Reasons for the increase include a tough job market for retail pharmacists leading to more willing to take a chance on their own business.

Example of a blister pack. (Photo courtesy of Aspire Rx)

Chudasama offers the kind of personalized service that most independents do – but places like CVS don’t. Aspire delivers prescriptions for free. Chudasama also assembles medication in specially designed blister packages that group multiple medications by days of the week, making it much less likely that patients will not take all of their required pills. She also works closely with physicians. These are things that CVS pharmacists simply don’t have time to do, she says.

“I went to school to be a pharmacist, not to just stand and count pills,” said Chudasama.

Switching prescriptions from a big box pharmacy to Aspire is as easy as making a phone call. And if you stop by on a hot day, chances are good that you can get a cup of cold lemonade. You’ll have to pay for that at CVS.

– Mike Lyons