The trolley stop at 47th and Woodland that had been previously discontinued, has been reinstated after requests from local residents and officials. SEPTA and the City’s Streets Department officials announced that trolley service at 47th Street and Woodland Avenue was expected to restart this past Sunday, March 27. The announcement was made during last week’s meeting of the 48th and Woodland Recreational Center Advisory Council held at the 48th and Woodland Recreation Center.

The announcement came after months of meetings between the Advisory Council and SEPTA authorities. The Advisory Council met with State Representative Rick Krajewski last year to ask for his assistance in reinstating the discontinued trolley stop, citing concerns about accessibility for area residents. Rep. Krajewski, along with Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, worked with the Advisory Council to convene meetings between SEPTA Officials and members of the Streets Department to address the issue.

The Chestnut Street Bridge over the Schuylkill River has recently reopened after being closed for reconstruction for more than two years. The 65-year-old bridge closed for repairs in August 2019 to all traffic, causing detours of SEPTA buses 21 and 42. The construction on the bridge had to be paused in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The $103.5 million construction project, carried out by PennDOT, included the repair of the bridge’s steel superstructure and replacement of the deck. The upgrades also include wider sidewalks and a protected bike lane.

The 48th and Woodland Recreation Advisory Council will meet on Thursday, March 24 to discussion efforts to put a trolley stop back at 47th and Woodland Avenue, near the playground there, which had been removed.

This winter, residents and local officials have expressed their concerns with the lack of accessible trolley service and have been calling on SEPTA to bring the stop back. City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and state Rep. Rick Krajewski will attend the meeting. SEPTA officials will also be at the meeting.

The meeting is scheduled to run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the 48th and Woodland Playground at 1414 S. 47th St.

Protected bike lane on Chestnut Street (archived photo).

Some street improvement work is coming this year to Chestnut and Walnut streets in West Philadelphia. The Chestnut-Walnut Traffic Safety project is expected to kick off this spring and will include Chestnut Street from 34th to 63rd Street, and Walnut Street from 22nd Street to 63rd Street. More than six miles are expected to be repaved as part of this project.

The project will also include improvements of the existing bike lanes on both streets. A protected bike lane was built on a portion of Chestnut Street (between 45th and 34th) in 2017. It is expected that the lane will be extended to 63rd Street. One of the goals of the project is to increase safety for bicyclists by separating them from motor vehicle traffic.

Other goals include construction of shorter and safer pedestrian crossings, improvement of parking and loading operations, and calming traffic by decreasing speeding and aggressive driving on these streets.

The project is coordinated by the City’s Streets Department and is implemented by PennDOT.

       One of SEPTA’s 2021 holiday buses.

Decorated SEPTA buses and “jolly trolleys” are coming to spread holiday cheer!

Folks are invited this Saturday, Dec. 11, to check out and tour the holiday buses at various West Philly locations. Here’s where and when you can find them:

40th St. Trolley Portal (40th and Baltimore Ave.)
10am – 4pm

Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore)
10am – 4pm

West Winter Craft Fest (37th and Market)
10am – 4pm Continue Reading

A new bike share station has been installed near Malcolm X Park (52nd and Larchwood).

Philadelphia’s bike share program, Indego, has installed more bike share stations around the city after announcing plans to expand its service area to more underserved neighborhoods last December. As part of this plan, Indego has been expanding its operation in West Philadelphia and in the past few months, the following new bike docking stations have appeared in West Philly:

• 52nd and Chestnut
• 52nd and Larchwood (near Malcolm X Park)
• 50th and Baltimore Continue Reading