PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Secret Service will restrict public access to a heavily traveled section of downtown Philadelphia for more than 30 hours before Pope Francis lands in the city next month — time officials said the agency needs to build security fencing and set up metal detectors.
The first of two downtown security zones will go into effect around the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 10 p.m. Sept. 24, with limited access for pedestrians the following morning, Mayor Michael Nutter said. Another security zone will go into effect around Independence Mall at 10 p.m. Sept. 25.
Both zones will open at 6 a.m. Sept. 26, about three hours before Francis is scheduled to land at Philadelphia International Airport. Each zone will have a secondary perimeter extending a few blocks out in all directions where screening is not required but vehicles, including those parked on the street, are still banned.
David Beach, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Philadelphia office, said agents are contacting people who live within the security zones, but would not say whether residents would be asked to leave while fencing is built.
The announcement of the security perimeters Thursday cleared up weeks of rumors and misinformation that had turned Philadelphia into the City of Brotherly Angst. Nutter encouraged residents to embrace Francis’ visit, 45 days away.
“Hey, Philadelphia: As the saying goes, of all the cities, in all the countries around the world, the Vatican chose Philadelphia,” Nutter said. “We should really take it as a badge of honor and civic pride.”
The World Meeting of Families, the triennial conference that is attracting Francis to Philadelphia, has promised to publish an online guide to the visit for residents.
“Those individuals will have the information they need to have to go about their lives,” Nutter said.
The security perimeters will envelop the sites of Francis’ biggest events in Philadelphia, the last leg of a tour that also has stops in Havana, Cuba; Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Francis is scheduled to attend a concert and celebrate Mass before an expected crowd of more than 1 million on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and deliver a speech on immigration to a crowd of 50,000 at Independence Mall.
The parkway security restrictions are likely to complicate the morning commute the day before Francis arrives, cutting off access to a scenic but critical artery running from city hall to the Philadelphia Art Museum.
City schools will be closed Sept. 23-25 and may also close Sept. 28, the day after Francis leaves. Courts will close Sept. 23-28. Some city offices will also close.
Last week, the city announced 25 miles of highway would be closed beginning at 10 p.m. Sept. 25. A major bridge connecting downtown to New Jersey will also close and the city is restricting traffic into a 3-square-mile downtown zone.
