New Jersey prepares for pope's visit to Philadelphia

CAMDEN (WPVI) -- The Pope will not be coming to New Jersey.

However, a Camden County emergency center will be up and running during the Papal Visit.

It's expected many coming to see the Pope will be Garden Staters or pilgrims from elsewhere traveling over the river bridges.

So there has been planning for any possible threat.

"We have been in communication with fire department, our EMS, our hazmat teams," Fred Lang of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said.

So how will people get from South Jersey to Philadelphia? Among the few certainties, PATCO.

The mass transit system will make limited stops and run at maximum capacity.

"We have the capacity to move each day approximately 100,000 people in total, about 10,000 people per hour," John Hanson of the Delaware River Port Authority said.

Another possibility will be walking across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Camden.

As for driving into Philadelphia that weekend, the picture remains murky.

There have been reports the Ben Franklin Bridge could be closed to cars, but officials say that would depend on possible street closings on the Philadelphia side.

The street closing plans for when the Pope is in Philadelphia is to come from the Secret Service.

No one Wednesday could say when that will be.

So 65 days out there are still many questions about getting from point A to point B.

As for those thinking about traveling from New Jersey, the best advice one official had was stay tuned.