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Kelly Drive to close with detours this weekend for Manny Flicks boat regatta and Walk MS event

Plan for more travel time along Kelly Drive but enjoy the races and fundraisers.

Out on the Schuylkill: Four Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School rowers — (from left) Jerell Maddrey, Brian Solomon, Eric Young, and Jared Smith — head for the start line at the April 19 Manny Flick regatta. Their boat, the Darth Vader, finished second in the race, their first competition.
Out on the Schuylkill: Four Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School rowers — (from left) Jerell Maddrey, Brian Solomon, Eric Young, and Jared Smith — head for the start line at the April 19 Manny Flick regatta. Their boat, the Darth Vader, finished second in the race, their first competition.Read moreSHARON GEKOSKI-KIMMEL / Staff Photographer

Prepare for detours on Kelly Drive this weekend as two events take over the roadway, and Schuylkill River.

Kelly Drive will be closed from Strawberry Mansion Bridge to Fountain Green Drive from Saturday to Sunday, including overnight, for the Philadelphia Rowing Association Championship Regattas. On Saturday morning, for the Walk MS Philadelphia fundraiser event, Kelly Drive will also be closed from Fountain Green Drive down to Eakins Oval.

The closures will begin at 6 a.m. on Saturday for the start of both the regattas (also known as the “Manny Flicks”) and Walk MS. For Saturday morning closures from Eakins Oval to Fountain Green Drive, outbound Kelly Drive traffic will be detoured toward Girard Avenue and inbound traffic will be detoured up the Strawberry Mansion Bridge into Fairmount Park. These closures end at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

For the weekend-long closure along Kelly Drive from Strawberry Mansion Bridge to Fountain Green Drive, southbound Kelly Drive traffic will be detoured up the Strawberry Mansion ramp to Fountain Green Drive via Reservoir Drive. Northbound Kelly Drive traffic will be detoured up Fountain Green Drive, along the same route. These closures will end at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The Manny Flicks is the city’s annual championship for high school rowing teams; thousands will be in attendance throughout the weekend. Walk MS is a national walk/run event organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to raise money for multiple sclerosis research, which Philly runners have already raised more than $100,000 for this year.