South Jersey towns announce traffic measures for papal visit

Cherry Hill outlined its traffic plan Wednesday for the papal weekend in September, saying parking restrictions on 25 streets and a heavy police presence will be used to "control the chaos" from pilgrims trying to reach Philadelphia.

The parking restrictions are centered on the PATCO Woodcrest station, one of only four in South Jersey that will operate when Pope Francis visits Philadelphia on Sept. 26 and 27. But the congestion is expected to extend well beyond that area.

Along Routes 38 and 70, Cherry Hill police have planned secret diversion paths if traffic grows unbearable. Drivers won't know them beforehand, as Chief William Monaghan doesn't want them to be jammed, too.

In neighboring Pennsauken, police will engulf Route 130 to ensure drivers don't abandon their cars alongside the roadway in heavy backups. And in Stratford, next to PATCO's Lindenwold station, police will restrict parking to one side of the street in an area of nearly 400 homes to provide access for emergency vehicles.

The preparations are another sign that from South Jersey to the Pennsylvania suburbs, the papal visit will be no normal weekend.

"The goal of this whole thing is to control the chaos as much as we possibly can," said Bridget Palmer, Cherry Hill's spokeswoman. "Just to keep it moving as much as humanly possible."

Near the Woodcrest station, police are planning to use "overflow lots" once the station's 2,700 spaces fill - though people should be prepared to walk at least a mile if those reach capacity, too, the township said. The public will not know the overflow locations until Sept. 25, so police can control the traffic flow, Monaghan said.

Parking on 20 streets, mostly residential and surrounding Woodcrest, will be limited to one side to allow access to residents and emergency vehicles. Those roads include First through Seventh Avenues, North and South Bowling Green Drives, and Woodfield Court.

Parking will be banned on both sides on five other roads: Railroad Boulevard, York Road, and Essex, Lakeside, and Atlantic Avenues.

On Burnt Mill Road, which runs near the station, one northbound lane will be open only to pedestrians between Woodcrest Drive and Haddonfield-Berlin Road.

Any vehicles blocking driveways, crosswalks, intersections, or fire hydrants will be ticketed and towed, the township said.

"We hope with this plan to have a minimal impact on the residents," Monaghan said. He said there would be a large presence of both uniformed and plainclothes officers, some of whom will be there to prevent car break-ins. Officers and electronic message boards will help drivers navigate traffic.

State transportation officials warned this month of "paralyzing gridlock" during the papal visit.

Much of that will be due to the closure of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to regular vehicular traffic from 10 p.m. Sept. 25 until noon Sept. 28. Only pedestrians, bicyclists, and emergency vehicles will be able to cross.

I-676 westbound from Exit 3 to the bridge also will close, as well as the Admiral Wilson Boulevard westbound from the Airport Circle to the bridge.

The closures will result in massive diversions at the circle, where Routes 38, 70, and 130 meet.

Pennsauken police are expecting the detours to slow traffic to a crawl along Route 130, so much so that they fear drivers may consider parking there, even though much of the route lacks shoulders.

"If one person's, like, 'I'll just leave my car in the curb lane,' then everybody will do it," Pennsauken Police Capt. Michael Probasco said. "So we'll have a whole detail patrolling the highways just to make sure that doesn't happen."

In Stratford, police will block access to certain streets - allowing only residents and emergency vehicles through - once street parking fills.

The roads, where parking will also be limited to one side, include Suburban Terrace and Coolidge, Laureba, Bryant, Arlington, Hunt, and Stratford Avenues.

"The roads will remain open until the point we simply can't hold them anymore," Stratford Police Chief Ronald Morello said, referring to when parking fills.

His department plans to hand out fliers to residents in the week before the papal visit about the restrictions.

In Camden, officials are still determining which roads may close or have reduced parking. That depends on how many buses register to park along the waterfront, said Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen. The area can hold up to 1,100 buses.

"There is certainly a possibility that main arteries in the downtown could be closed, depending on the situation," he said.

Transportation officials are discouraging out-of-town drivers from trying to park in the city.