Broad Street (Philadelphia)

Broad Street

PA Route 611 (from I-95 north to Old York Rd.)
The last street sign for Broad Street, at its intersection with Cheltenham Avenue.
Length	12.5 mi (20.1 km)
Location	Philadelphia
South end	Admiral Peary Way in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, South Philadelphia
Major junctions	I-95 (Delaware Expressway) in South Philadelphia I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) in South Philadelphia Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia South Street in Center City PA 3 (Market Street) in Center City I-676 / US 30 (Vine Street Expressway) in Center City Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia Cecil B. Moore Avenue in North Philadelphia US 13 (Roosevelt Boulevard) in North Philadelphia US 1 (Roosevelt Expressway) in North Philadelphia PA 611 (Old York Road) in West Oak Lane
North end	PA 309 (Cheltenham Avenue) in West Oak Lane

North Broad Street, looking towards City Hall (c. 1895)

Armistice Day 1918 on Broad Street

North Broad Street, looking towards City Hall

Broad Street at night along the "Avenue of the Arts" section, looking north towards City Hall, 2005.

The Northern terminus of Broad Street in Cheltenham Township

Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It runs for approximately 13 miles beginning at the intersection of Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Cheltenham Township and the West/East Oak Lane neighborhoods of North Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between historic Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 (Cheltenham Avenue) and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95.

It is a north–south street which lies between 13th Street and 15th Street (there is no "14th Street" in Philadelphia, because Broad Street takes its place). It is interrupted by Philadelphia City Hall, which stands where Broad and Market Street would intersect in the center of the city. The streets of Penn Square, Juniper Street, John F. Kennedy Boulevard, and 15th Street form a circle around City Hall at this point. It is one of the earliest planned streets in the United States, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a continuous north-south street, planned by surveyor Thomas Holme and developed for Philadelphia in 1681^[1]

Public transportation includes SEPTA's Broad Street Line subway, which served an average of about 137,000 riders per weekday in 2010, runs beneath Broad for most of its length. The subway starts in the Fern Rock neighborhood and extends through Center City to Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia.

Cultural landmarks

Broad Street is home to several Philadelphia cultural landmarks. Between Spruce and Market Streets, it is called the Avenue of the Arts, where it is home to art galleries, the Academy of Music, and the Kimmel Center. North of City Hall is the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

The South Philadelphia Sports Complex, near Broad's south end along Southern Boulevard Parkway, is the site of Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, and the Wells Fargo Center. Defunct sports facilities JFK Stadium, The Spectrum, and Veterans Stadium were located in this area. As a result, the Philadelphia Flyers are nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies". Broad Street often serves as the main parade route for Philadelphia sports championship parades; in the most recent, for the Phillies 2008 World Series victory, an estimated 2 million people lined Broad Street.^[2] The largest gathering for a championship parade was for the Flyers in 1974.^[2][3][4]

South of the sports complex and interchanges with the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76) and Interstate 95, Broad Street has its southern terminus in the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

The former offices for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News newspapers are on Broad Street just north of City Hall and the former PA State Building is at the intersection with Spring Garden Street. Most recently, the Public School District Administration relocated between these two landmarks. Also located on North Broad at its intersection with Fairmount Avenue is the historic Divine Lorraine Hotel. Farther north, Broad passes through the campus of Temple University.

One of the busiest streets in the country, Broad Street is shut down for the annual 10-mile (16 km) Broad Street Run. Additionally, the section of Broad Street from near Oregon Avenue (Marconi Plaza) to City Hall, in South Philadelphia and Center City, is the traditional location of the Mummers Parade on January 1.

Where Broad Street intersects with Clearfield Street in North Philadelphia is the exact location of the 40th Parallel.

Other names

• "Avenue of the Arts" (from Glenwood Avenue to Washington Avenue). This section of Broad Street includes many prominent theater and concert halls, including the Academy of Music, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Merriam Theater, Wilma Theater, University of the Arts Gershman Hall, and Suzanne Roberts Theater. The street has "AA" lights all along the way, which is the abbreviation for Avenue of the Arts.

• Avenue of the States: from Washington Avenue to Oregon Avenue. Along this section of Broad Street fly the flags of all 50 states in the US.

• Southern Boulevard Parkway: from Oregon Avenue south to Pattison Avenue to the Gatehouse of the Philadelphia Navy Yard connecting Marconi Plaza and FDR Park, an Olmsted Brothers landscape design 1904-1916 and fully utilized as the center roadway for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition world's fair celebrating the birthday of the United States.

• C. A. Tindley Boulevard: from South Street to Washington Avenue. This was dedicated to the late Charles A. Tindley, the father of gospel music. Tindley Temple United Methodist Church was his home, at the corner of Broad and Fitzwater Streets.

• Georgie Woods Boulevard: from Diamond Street to York Street.^[5]

• Formerly was part of PA 291, from Moyamensing Avenue to City Hall.

Major intersections

• Cheltenham Avenue
• Roosevelt Boulevard
• Vine Street Expressway
• Schuylkill Expressway
• Interstate 95

See also

• Broad Street Historic District (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• List of numbered streets in Philadelphia

References

Coordinates: 39°56′45″N 75°09′55″W / 39.9459°N 75.1652°W / 39.9459; -75.1652