This weekend, the city of Philadelphia will greet Pope Francis, an exciting time for Philadelphians and guests, but also stressful for many local residents. Here’s our summary on various closures, restrictions and cancellations associated with the papal visit. The schedule of events and activities during the Papal visit on Sept. 26 & 27 is available here. Also check out these useful links: Papal Visit Playbook, Philly Pope Map, Papal Visit FAQs. There will also be live streaming of events from the World Meeting of Families and the Papal visit stream (click here).

We will update this post as more information becomes available. Feel free to post comments or email us (editor-at-westphillylocal.com) if you know of any closures or cancellations not included in this post.

Highway Closures, Traffic Restrictions (“Traffic Boxes”)

Some road closures and parking restrictions have already begun ahead of the visit, but major highway closures and traffic restrictions will start on Friday night. Mayor Michael Nutter has announced Papal “traffic boxes” for parts of Center City and West Philadelphia, beginning on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. respectively. Vehicles will be allowed to exit the traffic box area, but will not be allowed to re-enter it (except for emergency vehicles). There will be no SEPTA bus or trolley service within the boundaries of the traffic box, but there will be no restrictions to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Here are the boundaries for the West Philadelphia Traffic Box:  Continue Reading

West Philly residents will soon have a new place where you can take trash and recyclables, including large household items, e-waste and Christmas trees. A new, more conveniently located Sanitation Convenience Center is opening at 5100 Grays Avenue on Wednesday, April 22, when the Earth Day is celebrated worldwide. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the center and Earth Day celebration will start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, and local residents are encouraged to come out and celebrate.

The facility was specifically designed for the needs of West Philadelphia residents.

In conjunction with the celebration of Earth Day, the Philadelphia Streets Department will offer information on maintaining litter free communities, recycling education and the Recycling Rewards Program. Representatives from the Streets Department’s Sanitation Division will be on hand to distribute educational materials and answer questions. Recycling bins and other giveaways will also be available.  Continue Reading

Some residents said that their trash was picked up a day late last week. Now we have the explanation. The Philadelphia Streets Department has just announced that due to the extreme weather the city has experienced over the past several winters, an unusually high number of trash trucks, which double as plows, have been either scrapped or are in the shop for major repairs. As a result, trash pickup has been impacted citywide with scattered one day collection delays.

“We understand the frustration that comes with delayed trash collection, and we regret this inconvenience,” said Streets Commissioner David Perri. “During these past winters, there have been several occasions where Sanitation trucks have been fitted with snowplows to assist in snow removal. In these instances, Sanitation trucks account for over one-third of the vehicles used during snow removal.”

Residents are asked to continue placing their trash out on the regular scheduled day at the normal location as delays are expected to continue for the next several weeks. Materials not collected on the scheduled day will be picked up the following day.

Here are a few important Presidents Day reminders.

• City offices, public schools and libraries are closed today and will reopen on Tuesday.

• Post offices are closed, and there will be no mail delivery today.

• There will be no trash and recycling collection today. Please set out your trash on Tuesday at your regular location. Collections will be one day behind for the remainder of the week.

• SEPTA trolleys and buses are operating on a modified weekday schedule (click here for more information).

UPDATE (8:35 p.m.): Mayor Nutter’s announcement on whether schools and city offices will be closed tomorrow is coming up at around 10:00 p.m. Stay tuned. The winter storm is expected to intensify overnight, according to Accuweather.

A snow emergency has been declared in the city beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday. If you parked your car on any of the snow emergency routes, please move it before 6 p.m.. Here are snow emergency routes in West Philadelphia:

• Chestnut Street from Cobbs Creek Parkway to 20th Street
• Walnut Street from Broad Street to Cobbs Creek Parkway
• Woodland Avenue from Cobbs Creek Parkway to University Avenue
• 34th Street from University Avenue to Grays Ferry Avenue
• 38th Street from Walnut to University Avenue
• 63rd Street from City Avenue to Walnut Street
• University Avenue from 38th Street to 34th Street
• Island Avenue from Woodland Avenue to Enterprise Avenue
• Cobbs Creek Parkway from Walnut Street to Woodland Avenue
• Schuylkill Avenue from Market Street to Walnut Street

If your vehicle remains on one of these streets it will be ticketed and towed. If your car is towed, call 215-686-SNOW to find out where it was taken.

The city has also cancelled trash and recycling pick-up on Tuesday. If your trash collection day is Tuesday please keep your trash and recyclables until next Tuesday.

UPDATE (2:50 p.m.): SEPTA has announced that Market-Frankford and Broad Street Line train service will operate all night:

MFL: Trains will run all night operating every 20 minutes from approximately 12AM-5AM. NiteOwl bus service will not operate.

— SEPTA (@SEPTA_MFL) January 26, 2015

Here are some more snow and cold weather-related reminders:

Remember homeowners you are required to shovel your sidewalks. Please do not throw snow into the street. You may be fined. — Philly311 (@philly311) January 26, 2015

#Noreaster has begun moving in & #codeblue is in effect. Call 215-232-1984 to help folks experiencing homelessness. http://t.co/8v7oDBtcz8

— Project HOME (@ProjectHOME) January 26, 2015

There will be a regular trash collection today, despite the fact that today is a federal holiday, according to the Philadelphia Streets Department. Residents whose regular trash pick-up day is Monday are asked to set trash and recycling at the curb today. Please note that there will be no rear driveway collections this week.

Trash and recycling pick-up was suspended Thursday and Friday due to the snow emergency.