It’s this time of year again when Penn students are leaving their dorms in a big two-day move-out event, which prompts the closure of a large section of Spruce Street to all traffic except for emergency vehicles. Here’s a traffic advisory for this Tuesday and Wednesday from Penn’s Public Safety Division:

“Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 40th Streets on Tuesday, May 10th and Wednesday, May 11th between 7 a.m.-8 p.m. for student move-out.

No taxi cabs will be permitted access. Vendors will be permitted access to enter the street prior to the 7 a.m. street closure. Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic. Septa Route 42 will be re-routed. Emergency vehicles and hospital patient transport vehicles will be permitted access. Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital.

During this street closure: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Wistar Institute and Ryan Vet Hospital deliveries will be allowed to enter Spruce Street at 38th Street. Garage 14 will be open and accessible throughout move-out.”

The Fall semester begins next week at the University of Pennsylvania, and this week Penn freshmen will be moving in. So the University Division of Public Safety is notifying the public of some street closures to accommodate the move-ins. Some segments of Spruce Street will be closed to traffic, including bicyclists, during daytime on Thursday, Friday and Saturday:

Thursday, August 20:
Spruce Street will be closed from 34th to 38th from 6:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m.

Friday, August 21:
Spruce Street will be closed from 34th to 38th from 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 22:
Spruce Street will be closed from 38th to 40th from 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

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.

UPDATE (1/24/2015): A week later…

The state of the Spruce Street sinkhole. pic.twitter.com/JoHR9kZJ8B

— West Philly Local (@WestPhillyLocal) January 24, 2015

(1/19/2015): As of 8:25 p.m. on Monday, the sinkhole is still there. The cars that had been caught in it have been pulled out. We didn’t see any Streets Department crews working there when we stopped by on Monday night. Although the hole, which is on the eastbound lane, hasn’t been fixed, the block reopened to traffic (you have to get in the westbound lane to go around it). What makes it even more dangerous is that the hole is very close to the 46th and Spruce intersection. Please be careful when driving or biking on that block.

A large sinkhole opened up on the 4600 block of Spruce Street on Sunday under two cars parked on the block. A reader, Phil Gentry, tweeted this photo at around 4 p.m.

Photo by Phil Gentry.

The street surface there had problems over the weekend, and the Streets Department crews continued working on the block. A water main break closed the block to traffic on Saturday, and there was no water supply to nearby homes for several hours.

A police tow truck began pulling two cars off the edge of the hole at about 8:30 p.m.. The block is closed to all traffic and the Route 42 bus is on detour until 12 p.m. on Monday.

Photos by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local.

Some great news, folks! No more trolley diversion to 40th and Market Streets as after almost a three-week break the trolley service has resumed in the tunnel. The tunnel was closed for Trolley Tunnel Blitz, a 17-day maintenance and construction project. The trolley diversion during this period caused some traffic delays on 40th Street, especially during rush hours. The tunnel service resumed before the rush hour this morning, according to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

We’re not fully in the transportation clear yet though. Some segments of Spruce Street will be closed this week for Penn students move-in. Here are the dates, times and areas you should avoid:

Thursday, Aug. 21: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 34th and 38th Streets
Friday, Aug. 22: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 34th and 38th Streets
Saturday, Aug. 23: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 38th and 40th Streets

They’re very likely going to ask you to walk your bike along those blocks and, of course, they are closed to vehicle traffic.

Now back to SEPTA news:

The “Night Owl” 24-hour weekend subway service, which is a pilot program, has been extended until November 2. The pilot was initially scheduled to run through Labor Day weekend. The extension will let SEPTA evaluate the service during fall ridership season.

SEPTA has just released a new mobile app for Android users that offers riders a variety of SEPTA travel information. The new app allows you to check your schedule, check for alerts, detours and service advisories on your route, find the location and get real-time information for regional rail trains, find the travel option nearest you, and stay connected with SEPTA. You can download the app on this page.

BTW, a new sign has been spotted on the Route 34 Trolley that reminds riders of seat etiquette:

Bandit campaign of passive aggression continues on @SEPTA_TRL_34 pic.twitter.com/iysOB3k4DL

— Amara Rockar (@arockar) August 18, 2014

Is the summer already over? Penn is preparing for a big student move-in, which means that Spruce street will be closed again between 34th and 40th Streets on certain days starting Sunday, Aug 17. Watch out for traffic detours and bus re-routing during street closure times (see below). Also, you will have to walk your bike on closed Spruce Street segments.

Here are more details from the Penn Division of Public Safety:

“To facilitate new student move-in, closures of Spruce Street will take place on the following dates, times and locations:

Sunday, August 17th: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 34th and 40th Streets
Thursday, August 21st: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 34th and 38th Streets
Friday, August 22nd: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 34th and 38th Streets
Saturday, August 23rd: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Spruce Street between 38th and 40th Streets

UPPD  will be on location to assist with traffic flow.

• Emergency vehicles and hospital patient transport vehicles will be permitted access.

• Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital: Access will be provided for non-emergency cases by way of 40th and Spruce Streets, emergency cases will be permitted access at 38th and Spruce Streets.

• No taxi cabs will be permitted access.

• Vendors will be permitted access to enter the street prior to the street closure.

• Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic.

• Septa Routes 40 and 42 will be re-routed.

• HUP, Morgue and Wistar deliveries will be allowed to enter Spruce Street at 34th Street.

• Garage 14 will be open and accessible throughout move-in.”