My Lincoln Drive Dilemma

Two years ago the Chestnut Hill community was foreign to me. I wouldn't have been able to give you directions from my school, Penn Charter, to Germantown Avenue. Today, I can easily navigate my way around the area as I frequently visit friends in Chestnut Hill, have dinner on Germantown Avenue, and intern at the Chestnut Hill Local. Now that the Lincoln Drive southbound is closing, however, my commute back over the river to get home will be much more difficult, and my visits to the Chestnut Hill community will not be nearly as frequent.

With $20.2 million dollars from the federal government, contractor Buckley & Co. will replace four bridges in the area over the next 16 months. Two bridges over Kelly Drive (the project is already underway), the Lincoln Drive bridge over Ridge Avenue and worst of all, the bridge that connects Lincoln Drive to southbound City Avenue. Drivers going south on Lincoln Drive will be forced down the Ridge Avenue exit and have three choices as they approach the new traffic light. A left turn to City Avenue and 76, straight to Kelly Drive, or right down Ridge Avenue.