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    Chestnut Hill East line weeks away from temporary suspensions for various bridge repairs

    By Rasheed Z. Ajamu

    Published: | Updated: | News

    Tags: | | | | | | | | |

    The suspension spans from June 15 to September 2 to repair bridges in five places that are more than 100 years old.

    Germantown Train Station, at Baynton & Chelten, east side sign. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

    If you rely on the Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail Line for transportation, your travel may be severely impacted for the entirety of the summer. 

    Starting June 15 at midnight, the line will suspend services entirely to complete a major rehabilitation project. The line is not scheduled to return until September 2 at 5 a.m.

    Between Wayne Junction, on the border of Germantown and Nicetown, and Cresheim Valley Drive in Chestnut Hill, five bridges will be worked on, including:

    • Wayne Avenue
    • Logan Street
    • Chew Avenue
    • Mt. Pleasant Avenue
    • Cresheim Valley Drive

    This rehabilitation project is part of SEPTA’s Capital Program, which focuses on safety, cleanliness, accessibility, and security throughout the entire SEPTA system. This includes rehabilitating and restoring all the structures that SEPTA owns and maintains, including more than 350 bridges, to a state of good repair and extending their useful life.

    The bridges slated for repair are all at least 100 years old, some dating back to 1893. The most recent repairs to some of these bridges date back only to 2011.

    The official announcement states that to help mitigate the impact on riders, additional service times will be provided on the Chestnut Hill West Line. Depending on the station from which you board, this could add anywhere from 10 to 35 minutes to your commute on foot.

    The dates for repair were also purposely chosen to be at the end of the school year to help minimize the impact on riders.

    They also encourage use of the 23 bus, which spans from the Chestnut Hill Loop down to 8th and Market downtown. 

    Wayne Junction is still home to the Fox Chase, Lansdale/Doylestown, Warminster, and West Trenton Lines, which all go to Center City.

    Folks close to the Chestnut Hill East line should expect some noise, vibration, and air quality impacts from the construction activities, but they believe it will be minimal.

    They do not anticipate a significant impact on traffic, though there may be some temporary detours and lane closures. SEPTA says it will provide advanced notice to any impacted businesses or residents before commencing the work.

    Other changes set to impact Regional Rail service for all SEPTA riders, over the next 11 years (it’s a 12-year program; it launched last year), under the capital program include:

    • Full ADA accessibility at all rail transit and Regional Rail stations over the next 12 years
    • More rehabilitation and modernization of systems for a state of good repair, like the project of the topic
    • Replacement of 50-year-old railcars

    For more specific information about this project, like what changes are being made to each bridge, check out SEPTA’s website.