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The seasonal MLK Drive closures for vehicles start this weekend

The city will start closing MLK Drive to vehicle traffic every weekend between March 28 and Nov. 29.

A bicyclist passes by while riding along the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in March 2024.
A bicyclist passes by while riding along the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in March 2024.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer
    by Dana Munro
    Published 

The city of Philadelphia will start blocking off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to vehicular traffic this weekend and most subsequent weekends until late November for pedestrians to enjoy.

The closures, between the East Falls Bridge and the MLK Bridge/Eakins Oval, will last from 7 a.m. on Saturdays to 7 a.m. on Mondays from this Saturday until Nov. 29. This will enable runners, cyclists, and pedestrians to traverse the highway without traffic.

Parts of MLK Drive will be used for a half-marathon — the Saucony Love Run — Sunday morning until noon, which will block parts of the road.

These closures come about six months after the drive reopened following a two-year renovation that involved adding a 10½-foot shared-use path to the trail along the drive.

In addition to the regular weekend closures, the drive will also be blocked to traffic during several holiday weekends, including:

  1. Good Friday/Easter — Friday, April 3, to Sunday, April 5

  2. Memorial Day weekend — Saturday, May 23, to Monday, May 25

  3. Juneteenth weekend — Friday, June 19, through Sunday, June 21

  4. Labor Day weekend — Saturday, Sept. 5, to Monday, Sept. 7 

  5. Indigenous Peoples Day weekend — Saturday, Oct. 10, to Monday, Oct. 12  

  6. Thanksgiving — Thursday, Nov. 26, to Sunday, Nov. 29

The road will be open to vehicle traffic during two major weekends — the Roots Picnic on May 30 and 31 and Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on Oct. 24 and 25 — to ease access for the events’ operations.