A month after the Holme Avenue Bridge closed unexpectedly, residents and business owners are still handling the impromptu detours and increased traffic.

One of the busiest intersections, Ashton and Willits roads, has had new traffic lights installed to accommodate more lanes of traffic, but those lights remain dark and covered in plastic. We reached out to PennDOT to find out why.

“This was a time-saving measure so that once our traffic operation plans were finalized, the signals would be in place and ready to go,” Safety Press Officer Jennifer Robinson tells NEast Philly. “Due to the volume and complexity of traffic patterns in the area, our analysis of the revised traffic control plan has been taking a little longer.  Our signal experts have nearly completed their review, and we also are coordinating our plans with the city Streets Department.” continue reading »

Holmeburg, Holme Circle and Burholme are all derivatives of some sort of the Holme family of Philadelphia. They’re all also different neighborhoods in the Northeast, which has proven a difficult fact for Philadelphia’s larger media outlets to navigate around.

So when the Daily News picked up on the Holme Avenue Bridge closure story this week, it wasn’t too surprising when the neighborhood was called Holmesburg. Not a very helpful report from the Help Desk.

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Q: Is there a way to figure out how much to offer on this home in Holme Circle? It is a really nice four-bedroom twin for sale for $199,900 and has been on the market for more than two months. Do you think the seller would take an offer for $150,000? I am approved to $180,000.

A: There is no set formula for making an offer on a property. The only way to find out if the seller would take an offer that low is to make the offer in writing. But no matter how long it’s been on the market — and these days two months isn’t very long — you’re talking about potentially offending a seller who might be agreeable to $180,000. And an offended seller may not want to participate in negotiations. continue reading »

Harold Windisch of PennDOT talks about the Holme Avenue Bridge.

John Buckley’s construction company has had $60,000 worth of small tools stolen in the last six weeks from its site on the Holme Avenue Bridge.

It’s one of many complaints coming out of the two-year project on the bridge, which PennDOT engineer Harold Windisch talked about at last night’s Holme Circle Civic Association meeting.

Buckley and his family are offering a $5,000 reward for tips leading to the return of the tools — a problem he says he’s never had in any other neighborhood.

Residents living near the bridge, who’ve come to see Buckley as an ally during the construction project, are outraged on his behalf, and at the traffic preventing them from safely accessing their homes. continue reading »

Charges have been filed against a Holme Circle man for the crash that critically injured a Temple University student.

Ivan Pauline of the 2900-block of Welsh Road is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and reckless endangerment. continue reading »

This is part of ongoing coverage in “District 172: The Politics of Change after State Rep. John Perzel,” a collaborative effort with Philadelphia Neighborhoods funded by J-Lab.

You can find an update to this post at the bottom of the article, from the April 12 Holmesburg Civic Association meeting.

About $10.6 million was funneled directly to the Mayfair Community Development Corp. since 2000, granted from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, according to its website. Much of it went into street cleaning and senior citizen programs.

The document states $800,000 was used toward the Devon theater.

The same state department gave the Holmesburg Civic Association and the Friends of the Holmesburg Library $5,000 each, according to state records.

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(L to R) 2nd Place Jamie Wurtenberg of St Albert the Great, 1st Place Adrain Toledo of St Jerome and 3rd Place Kerrianne Mullen of St Anselm took home Spelling Bee trophies. Photo by Archbishop Ryan HS.

Archbishop Ryan High School is proud to announce the results of the 7th Annual Invitational Spelling Bee. Held on Saturday April 2, at Ryan, 76 seventh grade students from 20 grade schools participated. The spelling bee went 17 rounds and equilateral was the winning word. The participants will be the high school class of 2016. continue reading »

Q: I am so excited! I make settlement on my first home in Holme Circle on Friday and I don’t know how to get the bills in my name. I want to make sure I have all my bases covered, so I want to call the utility companies asap. Who do I need to call? And will the seller’s bills already be paid off?

A: Congratulations! Owning your first home is very exciting. One thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is the seller’s utility pay-offs. The title company you use to make settlement will make sure the seller’s utility bills are paid up. continue reading »

The line for free water ice at the Rita's on Welsh Road in Holme Circle stretched down the block on the first day of Spring.

No doubt you got your free water ice yesterday from Rita’s, marking the first official day of Spring 2011. What flavor did you choose?

Friday -- The Philadelphia Fire Department has determined the cause of the deadly explosion in Tacony back in January. As PGW crews tried to fix a high pressure gas leak Jan. 18, a furnace inside a chiropractic office ignited the blaze. The explosion killed 19-year-old PGW employee Mark Keeley. continue reading »