This Wednesday (June 10), SEPTA representatives will visit the 40th Street Trolley Portal to conduct a Safety Blitz for riders. From 7 to 9 a.m., SEPTA safety officers will talk to the public about “the dangers of distracted commuting especially when near trolley and train tracks and bus stops, and the importance of standing behind the yellow platform warning strips.”

SEPTA’s 40th Street Trolley Portal is located at 40th Street at Woodland and Baltimore Avenues.

Approximately 3,800 riders access trolley routes 11, 13, 34 and 36 at the 40th Street Trolley Portal every weekday, according to SEPTA. Hundreds of West Philadelphia residents interact with trolleys at the portal and in the surrounding area while traveling through the neighborhood.

SEPTA System Safety officers regularly hold Safety Blitz outreach events at railroad, rail transit and bus stations, reviewing regulations and precautions with passengers.

Due to a track renewal project, shuttle buses will replace Route 15 Trolley for several weeks, starting on Sunday, June 14, SEPTA has announced. A portion of the tracks, which was installed in 1950’s, will be repaired in North Philadelphia during this project. Buses will replace trolleys along the entire Route 15, including in West Philadelphia. The trolley service is expected to resume on Sept. 6.

For more information about this project, please visit the SEPTA website.

You probably know the feeling. Sitting on a bus or in your car during rush hour, you gaze out the window and say to yourself, “I could probably walk home quicker.”

Well, an intrepid group of runners are going to test that theory tomorrow. Only they will be running, not walking. Yep, at 5 p.m. tomorrow runners will meet at the Philadelphia Runner store near 37th and Walnut to race a car and a SEPTA bus, which will traverse rush-hour traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway, to the Wissahickon Transportation Center between Manayunk and East Falls – some 6.6 miles. First person there – whether driver or runner – wins. UPDATE: Indego, Philadelphia’s bike share program, has also announced its participation in the event.

West Philly Runners (Facebook page), the group that meets at 45th and Locust for weekly runs every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., came up with the idea and got SEPTA onboard. You may remember a similar event last November when a group of runners “Beat the Bus.” West Philly Runners was behind that one too.

This is super short notice, but if you are a runner, there are still some spots open. Go here to register. SEPTA is supplying tokens to get runners back to West Philly and Philadelphia Runner will haul your stuff to the Wissahickon station. We also hear that there will be a special deal on Yards beer afterward at City Tap House.

If you are not up for the run, you can cheer the runners on as they head out by stopping by the 3700 block of Walnut St.at 5 p.m.. Runners can pick their own route, though the two suggested routes go near the zoo and along Martin Luther King Drive (shorter, but harder) or the Schuylkill River Trail (longer but a little easier).

Our money is on the runners, unless of course the car is a taxi.

This is this time of year when Penn students start moving out of their dorms, which causes temporary closure of several blocks of Spruce Street. This year, Spruce Street will be closed to traffic from 34th to 40th on Tuesday, May 12 and Wednesday, May 13, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to Penn’s Division of Public Safety announcement.

SEPTA Routes 40 and 42 will be re-routed during the move-out. Please go to SEPTA’s website for more information.

Here are some additional advisories:

• Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital.
• No taxi cabs will be permitted access.
• Vendors will be permitted access to enter the street prior to the 8 a.m. street closure.
• Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic.

Penn police will be on site to assist with traffic flow.

A young horseman crosses 45th and Baltimore on his way back to Clark Park. (Photo by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local)

One of the urban cowboys who often ride in Clark Park moseyed through Spruce Hill on Wednesday, crossing Baltimore at 45th on his way back to the park.

Updated intersection at Baltimore and Springfield.

The corner of Baltimore and Springfield avenues has long been a notorious corner, with pedestrians heading to and from Clark Park, cyclists, motorists and trolleys all converging at one oddly configured intersection. Hopefully some work recently completed by the City of Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities and the Streets Department that includes a buffered bike lane and some redirection of vehicle traffic will make the intersection safer.

Several accidents have occurred at the intersection in recent years and residents have long asked for steps to be taken. The changes include flexible plastic poles that provide a wide protected area for pedestrians, allowing them to cross the intersection much more quickly.

Intersection at Baltimore and Springfield (archived photo).