SEPTA is planning a Trolley Route 34 Track Renewal Project in West Philadelphia this spring and summer, according to their Community Update distributed in the neighborhood. The project is scheduled between May 19 and September 1, 2012 and includes a pre-reconstruction and four reconstruction phases.

Pre-reconstruction is scheduled for May 19-June 15 and includes rail welding in advance of construction. Rails will be welded and stored along Baltimore Avenue at four locations – between 41st and 42nd streets, between 50th and 51st streets, between 54th and 55th streets, and between 58th and 59th streets. Trolley service will not be affected during this phase, but parking will not be permitted in the area where rails are stored, with a few exceptions.

Phase I will take place from June 17 through July 7 and will include the reconstruction of both tracks between 40th and 42nd streets, beginning at 40th and progressing westward through completion of 42nd Street. During this phase, the entire two-block area on Baltimore Avenue will be closed.

Phase II is scheduled from July 1 through August 4 and includes the reconstruction of both tracks between 49th and 52nd streets. Phase III is scheduled from July 29 through August 18 and includes the reconstruction of both tracks between 54th and 55th streets. Phase IV includes the reconstruction of both tracks through the intersection of 58th Street and is scheduled from August 11 through September 1.

Throughout all phases, buses will replace trolley service from the 40th Street portal to the end of the line at the 61st Street Loop. All traffic, including buses, will be detoured around the active construction sites. All side streets in the affected construction areas will be closed to through traffic.

Some of the existing tracks were installed as far back as the early 1980s. The street structure supporting the tracks has deteriorated due to water leaks, traffic and the overall age of the street surface, which requires increased maintenance, SEPTA said. During the reconstruction, SEPTA will excavate, renew and pave approximately 7,500 track feet in both directions.

If you have any questions about this project, please call SEPTA Community Relations office at 215-580-7013.
 

Neighbor Rachelle reports that she found a very friendly tabby cat on 46th Street:

“I found a cat stuck at the top of the apartment complex between Walnut and Chestnut on 46th street. I have attached a picture. She is currently around 46th and Spruce and has a white flea collar on. She is very friendly.”

If this is your cat, contact Rachelle at: brissonr@mounties.mansfield.edu
 

Reader Margie recently sent us the following information:

“[On Thursday] a cat escaped from a trap that hadn’t been properly latched. He had just come from the PAWS clinic for neutering, and I was putting him in my cellar for recovery when he escaped from the unlatched trap.

I last saw him [Thursday] evening near 46th Street (west side) between Hazel and Cedar. I have a trap set in a back yard there (with permission of the owner), but I don’t know if he is still around there. He is not from this area, so he is not attached to a location yet. However, I don’t think he got very far as he probably slept off his anesthesia last night.

He is a brown tabby with some white markings: only a little white on his face around his chin. He is an adolescent: small, sleek and thin (but not skinny). He is ear-tipped, and shaved in the region under his tail. His feeder/trapper tells me that he is very vocal; of course he might be quiet when you see him. He is feral and will not come to anyone.

If you think you’ve seen him, please let me know where and when. I suspect he is still close by.”

Margie’s contact information: margie@mpolitzer.com, 215-726-6636, 267-275-7010 (cell).

Neighborhood Bike Works’ Earn-a-Bike Education Cause has been selected as one of 100 finalists in the Cause an Effect program on Facebook and has a chance to win one of the $25,000 grants being awarded by State Farm through the program. From April 27 through May 17, any Facebook user can vote up to 10 times per day for Earn-a-Bike Education on the State Farm Facebook page.

The 40 Causes that receive the most votes will be announced on May 22, and a $25,000 grant will be awarded to the winners.

Neighborhood Bike Works has been headquartered in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on 40th and Locust for the past 13 years. The organization seeks to increase opportunities for urban youth in underserved neighborhoods in greater Philadelphia by offering educational, recreational, and career-building opportunities through bicycling. Neighborhood Bike Works also promotes cycling as a healthy, affordable, environment-friendly form of transportation.

If funded, “Earn-a-Bike Education” would allow Neighborhood Bike Works to offer five 8-week after-school Earn-a-Bike classes in the area, providing a total of 60 youth with free, enriching programming.

The Green Line Cafe at 45th and Locust was robbed last night around 9:35 p.m., police said. The person working in the cafe was about to lock all of the doors and count the register. Right before locking the front door, a young man came in, pointed a black gun at the cafe worker and asked him if he wanted to get shot or to give the money up. The worker handed over the cash (approximately $1,000) and the robber ran out and fled north of 45th Street towards Walnut Street.

The robber is described as a white male, late 20s, 5’7-5’8, thin build. He was wearing a green jacket, with a black hoodie underneath, dark jeans, and a black scarf over his face.

Also Thursday night, around 9:20 p.m. there was a shooting near 49th and Baltimore, police said. A 26-year-old man was shot once in the stomach, and then ran to Cedar Park where he saw two of his friends. The victim’s friends transported him to HUP where he was listed in critical condition as of 1 a.m. No arrests were made. Police said that this shooting was not random.

Here’s a sampling of events scheduled in the neighborhood this weekend. For more upcoming events, visit our Happenings page.

• The Woodlands is hosting a Science Scavenger Hunt this Sunday, April 29, as part of the Philadelphia Science week. The beehives will be opening every half hour, the archaeologist will have artifacts from the greenhouse site for kids to sift through, and the Academy of Natural Sciences will have dinosaur fossils (including fossilized dinosaur poop) at paleontologist Ferdinand Vanidiveer Hayden’s grave site. Also UC Green will be there with tree related activities, seed planting at the community garden, and last, but not least, the College of Physicians will have a Civil War Medical Kit and information on Satterlee Hospital at the grave site of Jacob Mendez DaCosta.

• Also on Sunday, at 7:30 p.m. Crossroads Music presents Cobalt Blues Band performing “Pumped-Up” Chicago & Delta style blues. The concert is preceded by a free children’s program at 6 p.m. with Cobalt Blues’ singer Joe Becton (pictured), who will demonstrate African American musical styles from their origins to the present day. Both events will take place at the Calvary Church (48th & Baltimore). For more information and to purchase tickets ($5-15), go here.

• On Saturday, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Nursery School is hosting an adults-only cocktail reception at the LGBT Center at Penn (3930 Irving St). It is open to community members. Proceeds from this event will go to upgrade the school’s playground equipment and to improve classroom spaces. Tickets are $30 in advance and a limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Click on the flyer for more information.