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.

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.”

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.

“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.”

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.”

Ross said she understands living in the city, particularly in Fairmount, means some level of disruption due to public events along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“I’ve lived here for 22 years,” Ross said. “I lived through the Pope [visit] and the NFL Draft and parkway closures, and that’s fine, but this is two months. So it’s just pretty disruptive and I just feel like the city has really neglected some basic needs of neighbors to monetize fans and tickets and people coming to the area.”

Resident Nina Hernandez said she has also seen threats to public safety and worries someone will get hurt without the city directing traffic.

“It’s a good thing for the city, but it’s not necessarily a great thing for residents of this neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “With the increase in traffic and the road closures we’ve seen a lot of folks driving more recklessly than usual. We’ve seen cars flipping up on Girard Avenue. We’ve had a couple of near misses with pedestrians, including children. So all of that is a little bit concerning right now.”

Amilia Pikovsky lives just a few blocks away from the fan fest site in Fairmount. She says she sees the good and the bad of having the event in the neighborhood, including the loss of Lemon Hill for six weeks.

“The frustration is that the park is completely closed off right now to the public, and then on the other hand it’s nice to have this sort of like energy happening around the World Cup, and it’s in Philadelphia. It’s local, so that’s awesome. I also love that the event itself is free as long as you register. I think that’s great. But it is frustrating that you can’t enjoy the park.”

Councilmember Young said that while his own patience is wearing thin, he asked that neighbors be patient.

“I’m gonna continue to advocate for the community and the residents to make sure that their issues are heard, and not just heard, but the solutions are provided,” he said.

WHYY News reached out to Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office for comment but did not get a response.

Tom MacDonald, WHYY News City Hall reporter, contributed to this report.