PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Looking at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Friday morning, you might not have realized that there were thousands of people there the night before enjoying the holiday concert and fireworks.
The Wawa Welcome America concert crowd left tons of trash, but Philadelphia Streets Department crews made pretty quick work of the job overnight, sweeping up beer cans, plastic cups and food wrappers.
By the time the sun was fully up Friday, debris between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and 20th Street was gone — to the delight of resident Jane Cary.
"I was at the party yesterday and this morning it’s fantastic. It’s clean. I walked outside to walk Emmy and it’s beautiful,” she said.
Hillary, who lives nearby, was delighted as well.
“They’re doing a great job. They’re down a fantastic job, actually. I mean, I don’t see that much stuff,” she added.
Patriotic hats remain in front of the Parkway stage, the morning after last night’s concert. pic.twitter.com/Y0ogMN1XvY
— Mike DeNardo (@_MikeDeNardo)
July 5, 2019 The Parkway remains closed this morning. The outer lanes could use a little street sweeping. pic.twitter.com/NBRDLWdXrQ
— Mike DeNardo (@_MikeDeNardo)
July 5, 2019 The Parkway’s inner and outer drives were reopened by 8 a.m. Friday.
Progress. The outbound outer lanes of the Ben Franklin Parkway have reopened. @SamClover1060 @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/AUZNrYAWWR
— Mike DeNardo (@_MikeDeNardo)
July 5, 2019 Street sweepers put the finishing touches on the Ben Franklin Parkway’s inner drive. pic.twitter.com/C7GLphIzFh
— Mike DeNardo (@_MikeDeNardo)
July 5, 2019 Hundreds of thousands of people weathered the heat and humidity for the big names headlining the Fourth of July concert: Jennifer Hudson and Meghan Trainor, plus a grand finale of fireworks over the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Hudson's performance left concert-goer Jeanie speechless. "There aren't words to explain her. That voice doesn't come that often, and I just love her."
Makeisha Scott made a two-hour drive from Washington, D.C. just to see Hudson, and Trainor blew her away, too.
"I thought she had a really nice voice, she did a really good job, she sweated it out and she brought the noise."
Although trash has been removed, the job of disassembling the performance stage and taking down the security fencing will take a little longer.
KYW Newsradio's Antionette Lee contributed to this report.
