SEPTA shutting down Chestnut Hill East Line until early September for bridge repairs
SEPTA is temporarily from Sunday, June 15, to Tuesday, Sept. 2, to allow for five bridges along the line to be repaired.
While service is suspended, there will be extra service on the Chestnut Hill West Line, SEPTA said, and the Route 23 bus remains an option to get into Center City.
The Chestnut Hill East line connects communities like Chestnut Hill, Germantown and Mt. Airy to Penn Medicine and 30th Street stations in the heart of the city.
General Manager Scott Sauer said the five bridges are:
- Wayne Avenue Bridge, between Berkley and Clarissa streets
- Logan Street Bridge, between Belfield and Stenton Avenues
- Chew Avenue Bridge, between East Tulpehocken Street and High Street
- Mt. Pleasant Avenue Bridge, between Sprague and Ardleigh streets
- Cresheim Valley Drive Bridges, between Germantown Avenue and Crittenden Street
There will also be detours on some bus routes while construction is underway. Those routes are Route 18, Route 53, Route 71 and the Route 71 Express.
Most of the bridges date back to the early 1900s and one was built in 1893, Sauer said. The work will include removal and reinstallation of track, waterproofing, concrete and stone work, and structural steel repairs to keep them in shape for the next 100 years, Sauer said.
Work is also underway to make the Chestnut Hill East station fully ADA-compliant. SEPTA is spending $17 million on the station upgrades and $20 million on the bridge repairs, according to Sauer.
Sauer said the work is timed when ridership is lower to minimize inconveniences to passengers.
Work continues amid SEPTA funding crisis
While this is a capital budget expense (the budget used for construction projects/building for the future), SEPTA is still facing a $213 million deficit in its operating budget, which covers day-to-day operations of running the transit system.
SEPTA is warning that riders will face service cuts and the elimination of multiple transit routes if the budget gap is not fully funded.
Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro is speaking out about that deficit.
"All across our commonwealth, our mass transit agencies are in need. I'm confident that we're going to find a way forward. I'm working incredibly hard on this with all parties to make sure that we can get it done," Shapiro said Tuesday.
The agency collects revenue from fares but is also supported by funds from state, local and federal governments and recently, federal funding from the COVID-19 pandemic stopped.
