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Gov. Josh Shapiro visited Citizens Bank Park on Thursday to announce nearly $30 million in road work aimed at improving the flow of traffic in and around the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.
The work includes a $15 million project to build a new westbound entrance ramp to I-76, supplementing the one ramp currently on Broad Street. After its completion, expected in 2028, it would be used by up to 800 vehicles an hour, according to PennDOT estimates.
A second left-turn lane from Front Street onto I-95 North already opened earlier this month, allowing 500 more vehicles per hour to reach the highway, a 50% increase, Shapiro said. Other projects — a new traffic operations center in the sports complex and 19 artificial intelligence-enabled traffic signals — are also on the way.
The venues in the complex collectively host around 300 events and get 8 million visits every year, officials said. The improvements are meant to help fans get on the highway more quickly after events and allow them to avoid rushing to beat traffic jams, Shapiro said.
The governor recalled, as a kid, having to miss the ends of games with his father, so they could get home to Montgomery County.
“There was nothing better than when my dad would come home early from work and bring me to a Phillies game, bring me to a Sixers game,” he said. “But to know that there was going to be that moment in the ninth inning, that moment in the fourth quarter, where he says, ‘Maybe we need to go and beat the traffic.’ That’s kind of a bummer.”
Improving the fan experience
Joining Shapiro was PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll and top brass from Phillies pro sports teams, who said their comprehensive plan to fix traffic problems came from years of meetings.
They included Phillies owner John Middleton; Eagles president Don Smolenski; Tad Brown, CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers; and Dan Hilferty, CEO of Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers.
The overriding goal is to improve the visitors’ experience, said Brown, who highlighted the planned launch of a Philadelphia WNBA team in 2030. That team is expected to eventually play in a new arena Comcast and the Sixers intend to open in 2031.
“The North Star to the teams who are here … it’s really about the experience for the fans. It’s really about how do you make it better, so that you’re delivering that once-in-a-lifetime experience for those people who are coming here to the complex to enjoy their favorite sports,” Brown said.
Smolenski said the teams have been working with the state and the city for 25 years to develop the plan.
“So it’s a big day, as 20,000 cars come down to tailgate for Eagles games, and I’d like to keep them all the way in their seats till the very end, and this will help do that,” he said.
In addition to the state, the teams and Live Casino and Hotel have helped fund the planning process, Shapiro said.
Enabling commercial traffic
Beyond the stadium area, the plan aims to improve the flow of traffic and support economic growth across a large area city planners have dubbed “Lower South.”
A $10 million PennDOT project to ease congestion and improve safety at the Port of Philadelphia, known as PhilaPort, is currently underway, Carroll said.
The project at the intersection of Columbus Boulevard and Packer Avenue has already removed unused industrial train tracks, widened the road, upgraded a traffic signal and improved pedestrian access, making it easier for commercial truck drivers to reach the port, he said.
The state transportation agency has also launched studies of South Broad Street near the sports complex, and the intersection of 26th Street and Penrose Avenue, with an eye toward making upgrades in those areas, he said.
Carroll said PennDOT also intends to study ways to improve commercial traffic from the Navy Yard, PhilaPort, and the Bellwether District, a sprawling warehouse and industrial complex that HRP Group is building on the site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
“As much as we have to concern ourselves with traffic and motor vehicles for sports folks, we also have to deal with commercial traffic from our partners at [HRP Group] and the Navy Yard and the Port,” Carroll said. “This will help determine routes between PhilaPort and the Bellwether District, while exploring viable marine-rail connectivity.”
Shapiro: ‘We need to protect the city’
While the Flyers and Sixers are planning their new arena in the stadium complex, and the Phillies have announced a $600 million renovation of Citizens Bank Park, it’s less clear what the Eagles organization plans to do when its lease for Lincoln Financial Field expires in 2032.
“They’re doing an extraordinarily responsible thing, which is thinking about the future of this iconic franchise, taking in the input from fans all across the region. And ultimately they’ll make the right decision for the Philadelphia Eagles,” Shapiro said when asked about the team’s future.
“And I want to stress the Philadelphia Eagles, because they’re not going anywhere,” he added.
The governor was also asked about concerns related to the World Cup games taking place at the Linc next month. They are expected to draw a half-million visitors from around the world to Philadelphia.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a Fox News interview this week that he was making plans to halt processing of international travelers arriving at airports in so-called sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Shapiro responded by saying Trump administration cabinet members “spew a lot of BS” and “get a little carried away in their attempts to suck up” to the president. “I don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to that,” he said. “Here’s what I will say: if they tried to put that into action, they would be met with a swift legal response from my administration.”
Philadelphia has for years limited its cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In April, City Council codified many of those policies by passing its “ICE Out” legislative package, a set of measures that also bans law enforcement officers from wearing masks and restricts immigration enforcement activities on city property.
“We need to protect the city of Philadelphia,” Shapiro said.
“We are poised over these next few weeks to welcome the global community to the city of Philadelphia for the World Cup. The last thing we want to do right now, as the Trump administration seemingly is doing, is send a signal that we don’t want people to come here,” he said.
Editor’s note: A reference to a commercial traffic study was corrected.