Parkway cleanup begins after 2017 NFL Draft

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The NFL draft in Philadelphia was a smashing success, but the party has ended and now it's time to clean up the mess.

Philadelphia police say the breakdown is going ahead of schedule and that means some streets can re-open earlier than expected. The whole breakdown could go into next week.

Tonight there is good news.

The Spring Garden Bridge and MLK Drive are open and the outer lane of the Parkway heading into the city is open up until 21st street.

Dheeraj Bhavanasi of Fairmount said, "I think it's great, we can cross the street."

Those closures ending hours after workers began striking the massive set up for the NFL draft.

The mood today was quite different from the last three days, it was quiet.

The NFL announced the 250 thousand fans that came to Philadelphia broke a record for draft attendance.

The Parkway Corner Deli located next to the heart of the action surpassed the amount they expected in sales

Jon Graefe of Parkway Corner Deli said, "The first day we actually ran out of Bud Light cans. We had to bring in a new pallet so it was busy. We were really excited about it."

And for one resident - "Our front yard was the draft I guess," said Nima Karver of Fairmount.

Today he is reliving the weekend, even thinking about the draft returning.

"We actually took off work on Friday, so we could experience the whole draft, like have a few drinks and eat the food there, a couple of my friends did the 40 yard dash together, and that was pretty fun." Karver said.

Other Fairmount residents are also ready to get back to normal.

Jean Zweigle of Fairmount said, "To me it's done, goodbye."

And Darryl Braunstein, also from Fairmount added, "Once you can get back across the Parkway, everything is back to normal."

Another wave of streets will reopen on Monday at 5 a.m. - but many will still have restrictions.

Expect to see workers here for days to come.

The extra food and beverages were donated to the Salvation Army.

Police say they will open streets as the cleanup progresses, so far they're ahead of schedule.

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