Building Collapse Street Closures, SEPTA Detours

UPDATE: Market Street was reopened before 10 a.m. Friday. Only the unit block of S 22nd Street and the 2100 block of Ludlow Street remain closed. SEPTA also is back and operating regularly on all bus lines except Route 7. Trolley lines will continue to bypass 22nd Street.


Traffic snarled in Center City today as crews rushed to the scene of a building collapse that left six dead and at least 14 hurt when a four-story building collapsed onto a two-story Salvation Army store.

The buildings fell at 22nd and Market Streets in Center City around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.

In the following minutes, Philadelphia Police closed roads in the area and SEPTA redirected buses.

Around 24 hours after the collapse, the closure zone was reduced to a two-block radius around 22nd and Market Streets. The perimeter runs from 21st Street to 23rd Street from Market Street to Arch Street and 22nd remained closed from Chestnut Street to Arch, according to Mayor Michael Nutter.

Originally a police perimeter closed down roads from the Ben Franklin Parkway to Chestnut Street north to south and from 20th Street to the Schuylkill River east to west. Around 3:35 p.m. Wednesday the area was pushed back to Chestnut Street and 20th Street later in the day, according to police.

As the search and rescue effort winds down the area should continue to be made even smaller.

SEPTA Bus Routes 7, 9, 31, 44, 48, 78, 124 and 125 were detoured around the area and underground trolley Routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36 were bypassing the 22nd Street Station and moving at a slower speed, according to SEPTA.

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