Villanova victory parade route, street closures and SEPTA info

OnFriday April 8, Philadelphia will honor the Villanova men’s basketball national championship team with a parade in Center City.

The parade will begin at1 p.m. at 20th and Market streets and make its way down to Dilworth Park where it will end with a rally.

Thousands of proud and screaming Villanova fans are expected to attend the Center City celebration.

RELATED:Charles Barkley reacts to Villanova’s national championship win (VIDEO)

During the parade and celebration, several streets will be closed in the area beginning at11 a.m.

ROAD CLOSURES

Market Street from 15th to 23rd streets will close beginning at11 a.m.

15th Street from JFK Boulevard to Chestnut Street will close beginning at11 a.m.

RELATED:Villanova return to campus as heroes, National champs

All crosstown traffic on Market Street from 16thto 22nd streets will be closed prior to the start of the parade and will resume on a rolling basis as the parade moves it’s way east on Market Street.

DRIVING IN CENTER CITY

All vehicles traveling north on Broad Street will need to travel eastbound on Chestnut, before reaching City Hall.

Vehicles traveling west on East Market Street near City Hall will be diverted to North Broad Street or to JFK Boulevard.

Vehicles traveling south on Broad Street toward City Hall will be diverted to JFK Boulevard.

Vehicles using I-676 should avoid the 15th Street/Broad Street exits. These ramps will be open, but expect heavy congestion at these ramps.

SEPTA INFO

SEPTA plans to add extra capacity to the Norristown High Speed line, Market-Frankford line and the Broad Street line.

Expect heavy congestion on the Market-Frankford line especially at the 69th StreetTransportation Center, where many people traveling from the Villanova University area transfer to the Market-Frankford line to travel into Center City.

The Regional Rail will operate every 30 minutes Details and schedule changes are available here.

The parade route will impact SEPTA bus service through Center City. Bus routes 2, 4, 7, 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 38, 44, 48, 62, 124 and 125 will be detoured around City Hall and Dilworth Park from10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.on Friday. For a complete list of detour information and service changes visit SEPTA’s System Status section onwww.septa.org.

SEPTA’s 15th and MFL stations the City Hall BSL station and the City Hall stations are scheduled to remain open during the parade. If the area becomes overcrowded, those stations will be bypassed. If these stations are closed, SEPTA advises passengers to use the 13th Street and Walnut-Locust stations.

Passengers looking to use the 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 trolleys should look for service announcements regarding possible changes.

According to SEPTA, transit personnel will be in the area to provide passengers with information.