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As Joe Biden rallies in Philadelphia, expect road closures, transit detours

Streets surrounding the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be closed Saturday as Joe Biden rallies for his 2020 presidential campaign in Eakins Oval.

Joe Biden waves goodbye after stopping in at Gianni's Pizza & Grill, in Wilmington, Del., last month.
Joe Biden waves goodbye after stopping in at Gianni's Pizza & Grill, in Wilmington, Del., last month.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway and streets near Eakins Oval will be closed Saturday to make way for a rally for 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Open to the public, the former vice president’s rally will start at 1 p.m., with gates opening at 11 a.m. It is scheduled to end at 2:30 p.m.

Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m, many streets along and near the Parkway will be closed, according to the city:

  1. Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 22nd Streets (center lanes only).

  2. Parkway between 22nd and Eakins Oval (all lanes).

  3. 23rd Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and the Parkway.

  4. Spring Garden Street between Pennsylvania and the Parkway.

  5. Kelly Drive (outbound) from the Parkway to Fairmount Avenue.

  6. Kelly Drive (inbound) between 25th Street and Fairmount (local access maintained to Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive via 25th Street).

  7. Martin Luther King Drive between Eakins Oval and Sweetbriar Drive.

  8. Spring Garden Street Bridge at 31st Street (local access maintained to Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive).

Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, inbound traffic on Kelly Drive must exit at Fairmount due to the closed outer lanes on the Parkway.

Meanwhile, Kelly Drive between Strawberry Mansion Drive and Fountain Green Drive will also be closed Saturday from 9 a.m. through 8 p.m. for the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, an event organizers call the world’s largest high school regatta.

Cross traffic on the Parkway will be permitted on numbered streets as conditions allow, the city said.

Parking will also be limited along the Parkway and 22nd Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

SEPTA bus routes along the Parkway will be detoured during the day, with specific route changes available on SEPTA’s System Status page.

Biden’s Philly rally comes just days after he announced he would base his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, and less than a month after a rally in Pittsburgh — signaling that Pennsylvania is a state central to his 2020 strategy.

» READ MORE: Joe Biden 2020: How he could win. And why he might not.

» READ MORE: Poll: In Pennsylvania, Joe Biden has a big lead on Democrats — and on Trump