There’s good news — well, great news — for anybody who needs to travel on Interstate 95 in and around Philadelphia.
On the morning of June 11, a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline crashed into I-95, then burst into flames. The fire caused the highway’s northbound lanes to collapse while the southbound lanes were damaged due to the intensity of the fire, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
Local and federal authorities, as well as residents and business owners, consequently feared there may be months of traffic jams, detours, and road construction while I-95 is repaired.
Now, amazingly, the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, has announced the road repair work is significantly ahead of schedule.
“Based on the tremendous progress these crews made over the weekend and the time it takes to complete the remaining steps, I can now say that we will have I-95 back open this weekend,” Shapiro said in a statement earlier this week.
Why Progress Is So Fast
After the horrific crash on Sunday, June 11, fire crews were able to extinguish the blaze quickly. Then, on Monday, June 12, PennDOT crews were already working to demolish sections of the highway’s damaged overpass.
To help expedite the repairs, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration made $3 million of “quick-release” Emergency Relief funds available on June 15. That move allowed PennDOT to use the money to offset the costs of repair work, the U.S. Department of Transportation explained.
“Every day counts in this urgent reconstruction project, and the quick-release funding is an important step to help PennDOT rebuild the collapsed portion of I-95,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a statement. “We will continue to use every federal resource we can to help Pennsylvania restore this key artery quickly and safely.”
This is an important step because I-95 is one of the busiest interstates on the East Coast. Approximately 160,000 vehicles travel on the road through Philadelphia each day.
On June 15, Shapiro and PennDOT announced that demolition of the damaged section of I-95 had been completed in just 4 days, which was well ahead of the original schedule.
Crews then began work building an interim roadway. When they began paving the new lanes, the Pennsylvania State Police even escorted trucks so they could reach the work site as quickly as possible, according to Shapiro.
Then, thanks to what he called a “coordinated response and the 24/7 work of crews on the scene,” Shapiro said on June 17 that I-95 would be open within the next 2 weeks.
“I can state with confidence that we will have I-95 reopened within the next 2 weeks,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We are going to get traffic moving again thanks to the extraordinary work of [numerous work crews] and our incredible union trade workers.”
Since then, all of the work crews have been able to get even further ahead of schedule. Based on that development, Shapiro now expects I-95 to be open this weekend.
Know Before You Go
Given the scope of the highway repair project, it’s no surprise that there are still detours and travel restrictions on I-95 around Philadelphia.
You can monitor the rebuilding process and learn more about current I-95 detours at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s I-95 Updates webpage.
Be sure to also read our Philadelphia content, including:
