Closing suburban streets for pope puts residents on edge

On the picturesque streets surrounding Periwinkle Lane in Lower Merion, summer typically follows a pleasant suburban script: Children splash in backyard pools, families take their dogs on neighborhood strolls down quiet streets.

But residents are preparing for the bubble to burst in late September, when one of the world's most famous figures is expected to move in for a few days next door.

"I have no idea how we're going to even get out of the development," said Natalie Landro, 62, whose house abuts the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where Pope Francis is expected to stay during his visit to Philadelphia.

Across the suburbs, families and businesses have long been bracing for an expected swarm of papal pilgrims as the effect of Pope Francis' visit spills beyond the city's borders.

Expectations took a more dramatic turn last week when it was announced that several major suburban thoroughfares would be shut down for a few days starting at 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25.

About 20 miles of the eastbound Schuylkill Expressway, 10 miles westbound, and two miles of City Avenue in both directions will be closed.

Combined, those roads carry up to 317,000 vehicles per day, according to the state Department of Transportation.

With SEPTA Regional Rail schedules already modified for the weekend, these new announcements made it abundantly clear that suburbanites, too, will likely be affected by the city hosting Pope Francis. Their quiet backstreets may get clogged with traffic diverted from the highways, and commuters are already scrambling to find other ways into the city.

Stephanie Sinoway, 36, who also lives near the seminary, said her family came up with a solution months ago.

"We're getting out of Dodge," she said with a laugh, packing up and heading elsewhere for a few days.

That's not an option for Margo Wells, who manages a Sunoco station at City Avenue and Conshohocken State Road.

"I've been looking all day to see the actual way they're going to shut down the street," she said Friday morning.

Wells' busy station does thousands of dollars per day in gas sales, she said, and she knows business will slow down when City Avenue closes. Still, she holds out hope that Belmont Avenue will remain open, allowing whatever stray cars were on the road to fill up using a side entrance.

"Everybody on this street is going to lose business," she said.

Not all companies are slowing down.

Mark Ross, regional manager for emergency preparedness at the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania, said many hospital employees in the region were preparing for 72-hour sleepovers.

Cots will be placed in conference rooms, he said, and some facilities will entertain their staff with offerings such as movie night.

"What our hospitals really are looking at is a storm kind of event," he said, such as a blizzard or hurricane, which most hospitals in the region have managed in the past.

After the road closures were announced, Elizabeth Rogan, president of the Lower Merion Township commissioners, said she is telling residents to either be patient or find somewhere else to be for the weekend.

"Traffic is going to be bad in Lower Merion," she said. "It's two days, and it'll be a really crazy two days."

All the commotion might be too much for Landro, of Periwinkle Lane.

She said her mother lives in Minnesota. And the end of September was sounding more and more like the perfect time to visit.

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For complete coverage of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia, go to www.philly.com/pope

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