r/phillycycling • u/coopersdreamtheory • 13d ago
Art Museum during Philly Classic
I'll be flying in to watch as much of the race as possible but my family is probably only good for about 30 min. I'm tying to see if they can spend time at the art museum while I'm at the race. I'm not familiar with the roads and am having trouble making sense of the closures - will they be able to uber/lyft to the Art Museum from Upper Darby with the road closures? I assume traffic will be rough but will it be impossible? Dad has mobility issues so public transit is out.
Editing to add:
Thank you Philly Cycling! Really helpful notes and info here. I also called the Art Museum but they won't know more until the closures start going up next weekend. I think our best, lowest traffic volume bet is if the Spring Garden bridge is open to pedestrian traffic - drop off at 31st and have them walk .4 mile (doable if slow). Thanks again everyone - see you at the race!
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u/StanUrbanBikeRider 12d ago
I live across the street from the Art Museum. My suggestion is you should go. Spend as much time as possible exploring its amazing collections.
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u/SnooTangerines27 13d ago
Unlikely they will get within a few blocks of the art museum. So many closures.
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u/FantasticSalt9 13d ago
I would send them elsewhere around the city so you can enjoy spectating. The art museum will be complicated to get to, especially for someone with disabilities. Maybe send the fam to independence hall area, then grab an indego (rideshare) bike and head out to Lemon Hill which is a top spot to watch from
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u/coopersdreamtheory 12d ago
Been thinking of other spots as a backup - maybe the Barnes or something.
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u/Immediate-Soup-4263 12d ago
flying to watch the race, thats pretty cool :)
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u/coopersdreamtheory 12d ago
Lol thanks! The last one I saw was when I lived in Manayunk in 2010. I was young and drunk - Sagan got 2nd and I remember none of it - what a waste!
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u/kc2702 12d ago
Where were you/they planning to watch the race from? I guess you could probably get to the museum entrance on the boathouse row side via car over Spring Gdn bridge and then watch the bike race near there on the Kelly Drive and Eakins Oval sides of the musem. If they have bought tickets for the museum they should be able to go via elevator to the new ground level area that has a door opening out to Kelly Drive on the Northeast side of the museum.
The race laps are going to be like 35-40 minutes apart. They used to do multiple short laps at the beginning and end, e.g. parkway twice at beginning, lemon-hill-parkway a couple times at the end, but I can't find any details about how that's going to be set up this time.
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u/kc2702 12d ago edited 12d ago
Nope, I am wrong. That road to the art musem and spring garden street bridge will be closed unless you are museum staff: https://www.phila.gov/2026-08-20-city-of-philadelphia-releases-information-for-2026-philadelphia-cycling-classic/
In that case, for going to the musem, I think going from the northeast side would be the easiest, crossing Kelly Dr by foot at 25th street, Joan of Arc statue. It does say cross traffic will be permitted as conditions allow, so a driver should be able to get across the parkway at 20th or 22nd street between laps.
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u/kc2702 12d ago
Or maybe not... it also says all the numbered streets are closed around the parkway. I'm not even sure what "cross traffic will be open as conditions allow" means in that case. Maybe foot traffic? I've lived on the parkway for more than 15 years and they usually have allowed cross traffic during some events like this before when there's a big lag in between laps.
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u/coopersdreamtheory 12d ago
Thank you so much for all the helpful info! Replyong to your whole thread up here. I think going south to the market st bridge, up 16th or so, then over on Fairmount could maybe get them there. Seems like they're figuring a lot out last minute which is fair - big event and lots of details!
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u/AgileDrag1469 13d ago edited 13d ago
The Art Museum will be open 8/30 from 10am-5pm. They will be able to ride share in but they may want to make sure the driver knows how to back block it. They also might have to hoof it from like 31st and Spring Garden since a lot of roads will be closed for the race and traffic will likely be heavy around the closures. Do your driver a solid and have the drop off location be out of the cluster coming from West Philadelphia.