ESPN show, Temple football game and Halloween portend traffic headaches

Trick or treaters will share the streets Saturday with football fans and marathoners in a collision of events that promises to be a transportation headache.

"It's not going to be a pretty transportation weekend," said Manuel Smith, a SEPTA spokesman.

Already underway are preparations for ESPN's College GameDay Live, which will broadcast live Saturday from Independence Hall. The show highlights the weekend's big college football matchups, and is broadcast each week from a city with a high-profile game. In this case, GameDay chose Philadelphia because of Saturday's matchup between Notre Dame and undefeated Temple University.

By 10 a.m. Thursday Market Street was closed to vehicles from 5th to 6th streets, and will stay that way through at least 6 p.m. Saturday. The ESPN show will also necessitate closing much of 6th Street between Arch and Market streets through Saturday night, Smith said. SEPTA will run four additional trains on the Market-Frankford Line Saturday morning for people to go to Independence Hall.

The big event is the 8 p.m. nationally televised game on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. The stadium which seats more than 69,000, is already sold out, including standing room tickets, Temple University said. A lot of the fans are expected to be coming from the Cecil B. Moore Avenue stop on the Broad Street Line, so SEPTA is adding 14 additional southbound local trains to that line from 5:05 p.m. until 7:15 p.m. Saturday . Travelers shouldn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for a train, Smith said.

Game goers also will be coming in through the regional rail system, and SEPTA will post staff and signs to help people find their connections from regional rail stations to the subway lines to the game.

There may be additional trains on standby at the AT&T Stadium stop, near Lincoln Financial Field, after the game, he said; and late trains on the regional rail may be held if needed.

There's more to Saturday's big events in the city. The Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon is also Saturday, about 18,500 people running 13.1 miles from Eakins Oval, around City Hall, up to the Falls Bridge and back to the starting point, organizers said. The 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. race to raise money for the American Association of Cancer Research will cause rolling traffic closures to portions of the Parkway, Market Street, Spring Garden Street and the numbered cross streets between 15th and 22nd, SEPTA and race organizers said.

The race, an annual city event, is usually held the third weekend of September, spokesman Dan Cruz said, but the pope's visit caused it to be postponed.

Also, there's an assortment of Halloween events that will cause extensive Center City detours Saturday for 16 city bus routes, Smith said. People trying to get around the city would be best relying on subway or trolley, he said.

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