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Closures Begin On Benjamin Franklin Parkway In Preparation Of Papal Visit

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It's a sign of the upcoming papal visit on the Parkway.

For the first time today, parts of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway shut down and will remain closed for nearly two weeks.

Around 10:15 a.m. Thursday, a traffic advisory was sent out reporting the inner drives both east and west of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
are now closed from Eakins Oval to 20th Street.

The closures will stay in effect until Tuesday, September 29; two days post-Pope departure.

The outer drives remain open, for now.

The closures are likely to make room for the custom stage being built for Pope Francis, which officials say is 100 feet wide, 90 feet deep and tens of thousands amount of feet of cable have to be pulled in.

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