Improved MLK Drive Bridge to reopen this month after more than two years of repair work

The Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Bridge will reopen later this month following the completion of a $20.1 million repair project that kept the span closed for more than two years, city officials said.

The bridge that crosses the Schuylkill River near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, connecting MLK Drive to Eakins Oval, is on track to open to pedestrians and cyclists at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19. Motor vehicles can use the bridge starting at 7 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 22.

MORE: Visit Philadelphia expands marketing reach with $9 million tourism campaign for 2026

The MLK Drive Bridge opened in 1965 as a connector between West Philly neighborhoods and Center City. During an inspection in 2021, crews found major deterioration to the steel framing of the 690-foot-long span. At the time, the bridge and the rest of MLK Drive already had been closed to vehicles during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to create more outdoor space for people to use while being able to maintain social distancing. In November 2020, the city estimated 5,000 pedestrians were using MLK Drive daily, up from about 500 per day

Once repairs began in March 2023, the bridge and MLK Drive were closed and detoured for all modes of travel between Sweetbriar Drive and Spring Garden Street. The portion of the Schuylkill River Trail that passes beneath MLK Drive Bridge also has been closed at times during the project.

In addition to steel repairs, the project, paid for with federal money, widened the bridge's concrete deck to accommodate three lanes for vehicles and a 10 1/2-foot-wide shared-use path that links the bridge to the MLK Drive Trail.

For 30 years, the MLK Drive between the Falls Bridge and the art museum has been closed to motor vehicles on weekends and certain holidays from late March to late November. The weekend closures are meant to create a car-free recreational space in the city.

The reopening of the MLK Drive Bridge originally had been targeted for this past spring, but cold weather delayed the pouring of the concrete deck and pushed the timeline back several months.

With the MLK Drive Bridge project completed, next the streets department will make repairs to the Falls Bridge that crosses the Schuylkill River in East Falls and connects Kelly Drive and MLK Drive. The steel truss bridge built in 1895, which has sidewalks for cyclists and pedestrians, is in poor condition and needs structural upgrades, city officials have said.

Work on the Falls Bridge would not begin until after Philadelphia hosts events for the U.S. semiquincentennial, FIFA World Cup and MLB All-Star Game. The Streets department has said the project will take at least two years, with the bridge closing to all traffic and detours taking effect in late 2026 or early 2027.

The streets department and Mayor Cherelle Parker will mark the reopening of the MLK Drive Bridge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on Sept. 19.