UPDATE (10/27/2023): Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 234, the union representing 5,000 Philadelphia-area transit workers, has reached a tentative agreement with SEPTA for a new one-year labor contract to expire in November 2024.

The tentative agreement reached today provides TWU members in the City, Frontier and Suburban Divisions of SEPTA with:

• Across the board wage increases
• Increases in pay for new and recently hired operators
• A signing bonus for all active union members
• Retention bonuses to incentivize employees eligible to retire to remain on the job for at least another year
• An increase in the pension for those that retire in the next year and a doubling of the long-neglected disability pension benefit.

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The Walnut Street repaving project is currently underway between 33rd and 63rd Streets, which will include traffic calming measures and safety improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. Here’s a chance for community members to weigh in on safety concerns along two other busy West Philly streets where improvements are long overdue.

Thanks to local advocacy, 47th Street between Chestnut and Paschal Avenue and 48th Street between Market and Kingsessing Ave. are being considered for safety improvements. The City’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier are hosting two community open house meetings to discuss different safety infrastructure options for the corridor (see the infographic below).

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After a break, SEPTA is set to resume public hearings on Bus Revolution, the comprehensive redesign of its entire bus network. The first hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12 at SEPTA headquarters (1234 Market St.), beginning at 5 p.m.. Then, two virtual hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 13 – from 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Registration is required for these hearings.

SEPTA will hold more in-person hearings in Philadelphia and other counties in its service area throughout this month. For more details, see the image below. To register for the virtual hearings on Wednesday, visit: https://iseptaphilly.com/blog/busrevpublichearings.

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The repaving of a portion Walnut Street in West Philadelphia is set to begin on September 12th. The milling work is expected to take place during the overnight hours from Tuesday, Sept. 12 to Friday, Sept. 15. During this work, the street will be reduced to one lane between 33rd Street and 63rd Street and motorists should expect delays.

The repaving schedule is as follows, according to PennDOT:

• Through Friday, Sept. 15, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., there will be a lane closed on Walnut Street between 63rd Street (Cobbs Creek Parkway) and 33rd Street to prepare for milling.
• Milling work will take place during overnight hours.
• Paving is set to begin on or around Tuesday, Sept. 26.
• Travel lanes will be open during the majority of construction. There will be periodic nighttime closures. Follow signs, detours, and parking notices.

The project is part of the City’s Complete Streets project.

The Walnut Street repaving project includes the following street improvement goals:

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The University of Pennsylvania has announced that portions of Spruce Street will be closed next week to all vehicular traffic to accommodate their students moving into campus for the 2023-2024 school year. Street closures will take place every day from Monday, Aug. 21 through Friday, Aug. 25, except Thursday, Aug. 20.

Here’s the schedule and locations of street closures:

Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 38th Streets from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Spruce Street will be closed between 38th and 40th Streets from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25.

Motorists should expect delays in these areas during this timeframe.

SEPTA buses that travel on Spruce Street will be on detour. Please check the SEPTA website for detour information.

Speed cushions near Lea School at 47th and Spruce.

Motorists will have to slow down when passing many local schools thanks to new traffic calming measures being installed around the city. In the past month, speed cushions have been installed near several West Philly schools and more are on the way. The work, which will continue throughout the summer, is being carried out by the Philadelphia Streets Department.

This work is part of the city’s efforts to make it easier for schools to have traffic calming measures installed as new legislation cutting the red tape was passed in the spring. Any city block can now request a traffic calming and safety study, but it takes around a year for this study to complete. The new legislation allows schools to bypass the study.

Around 50 School District of Philadelphia schools will get traffic calming measures by September, according to a report by CBS Philly.