Fairmount neighbors say Philadelphia’s FIFA Fan Festival road closures threatens public safety
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On the 2900 blocks of Ogden and Poplar streets, homemade road signs on bright yellow card stock warn drivers of road closures ahead. The streets are just a few blocks away from Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill, the site of Philadelphia’s 39-day FIFA Fan Festival, which festival organizers say could attract between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors on match days. But no official signs warn of the road closures, and while there are police cars parked nearby, no one is directing traffic.
Neighbors made their own signs after they say frustrated drivers have responded to road closures surrounding the site by making dangerous U-turns and speeding down small one-way streets. The 2900 block of Ogden Street is blocked off with a sandwich board that warns of children at play, written by the children themselves.
Residents of Ogden Street in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood put up their own homemade signs to calm traffic resulting from the FIFA Fan Festival at Fairmount Park. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Poplar Street resident Renee Rapier said she’s excited about the fan fest but has seen enough near misses that she worries about pedestrian safety.
“So like 11 in the morning, I’m walking with my son, he’s on his balance bike right in front of me, and a Tesla was trying to turn around frantically because there’s cars coming this way and everybody’s honking,” Rapier said. “And [it] did a speedy U-turn and almost hit him. So in the middle of the afternoon, we were clearly on the crosswalk; he was very visible.”
Homemade signs on Ogden Street caution motorists trying to find their way to the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill Park. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Rapier said she saw two cyclists almost get hit at the same intersection.
“It’s very disappointing,” Rapier said. “We had to put up our own signs to try to stop the flow of U-turn traffic onto Poplar. It just feels like the city [doesn’t] have the right priorities. There’s so much money being spent, so many officers and security guards are here, but none of them are directing traffic.”
Rapier’s friend and neighbor Nicole Ross lives on the 2900 block of Ogden Street and serves as a Democratic committeeperson for the 15th Ward. Ross said there are dozens of kids living on the block, which is typically quiet. But since the FIFA fan fest road closures, cars have come speeding down her block, sometimes in the wrong direction.
Neighbors Nina Hernandez and Nicole Ross are concerned that the FIFA Fan Fest at nearby Lemon Hill Park will bring traffic, noise and parking woes to their neighborhood during the 39 days of the FIFA World Cup. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
“I’ve been reaching out to different departments to try to get some better street safety around here because we knew closing Poplar at 30th Street was going to create a loop of cars that would have to loop back around, fly down Ogden Street, fly down 30th, fly down Pennsylvania, and it’s been worse than we expected,” Ross said.
But she said nobody has been responsive, including City Councilmember Jeffery Young.
Young told WHYY News that his office has put in a request for proper signage directing traffic away from blocked roadways.
“Because people just don’t know where to go now because of all the traffic,” Young said. “People are making illegal U-turns.”
Street parking in the neighborhoods around Lemon Hill Park is restricted to residents only during the FIFA Fan Festival. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Young said he was surprised to learn that the FIFA fan fest would hold activities every day.
“Originally when they told us about this, they told us FIFA fan fest will only be activated on days there are matches, and now I guess, capitalism took control and they have activation throughout the entire fan fest,” Young said. “So, I honestly wasn’t prepared for 40 days straight.”
