Philadelphia officials have revealed plans for Thursday's Super Bowl parade and said fans should expect some dramatic surprises, jumbotrons, free subway rides and 850 portable toilets.
But at a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Jim Kenney warned "the knucklehead contingent" that caused trouble in the city after the Eagles' victory should stay away from the 5-mile parade route.
Here's a look at some of the parade details:
ROUTE
Officials said the team will leave Lincoln Financial Field in south Philadelphia at 10:45 a.m. Thursday and will arrive at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue by 11 a.m. They'll head north on Broad Street, wind around City Hall and then move up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway before ending around noon at — where else — the Philadelphia Museum of Art's famous "Rocky" steps. A 1 p.m. ceremony at the museum will follow, though officials were tightlipped about what it will feature. Fourteen jumbotron screens will dot the route to ensure that revelers don't miss any of the festivities. Fans are expected to stuff city streets in record numbers. Free Bud Light will be available at about two dozen bars along the route according to a promise the beer maker made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season, so the planned 850 portable toilets likely will come in handy.
TRANSPORTATION
Don't drive into Philadelphia on Thursday, Kenney said. Dozens of streets will be closed and heavy traffic delays are expected. Also, forget about parking — the city is enforcing a long list of temporary parking restrictions along the parade route as well as on adjacent streets. Bicycle routes on Broad Street, Benjamin Franklin Parkway and other blocks near the parade also will be inaccessible. Instead, take public transit. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is offering free service on the Broad Street and Market Frankford lines.
'KNUCKLEHEAD CONTINGENT'
Kenney said he expects Thursday morning's parade crowd to be calmer than the one that shattered storefront windows, overturned a car, ate horse feces, collapsed a hotel's awning, hit the city's police commissioner in the head with a beer bottle, toppled light poles and set off fireworks after the Eagles' win on Sunday night. He called those troublemakers a small group — "the knucklehead contingent" — and told them to stay home. To that end, alcoholic beverages will be confiscated. "I think it will be a different tenor, a different element," Kenney said without noting the city's Wing Bowl and Mummers' Parade, where it is common for heavy drinking to start early in the day.
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