Pennsylvania Turnpike has a designer for new interchange

Upon completion, the project will connect two highly traveled interstates, the east- and west-bound Pennsylvania Turnpike, also known as I-276, and the north- and south-bound I-95 that runs from Maine to Florida. Currently over 57,000 motorists per day are inconvenienced by the lack of a direct interchange at the junction of I-276 and I-95.

The highway agencies responsible for the project are the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The length of the project is 9.2 miles along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and three miles along I-95. The rerouting of I-95 will go through the new interchange along the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the New Jersey Turnpike. Design is expected to begin in 2004.

"The Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 interchange project represents a significant investment in the southeast Pennsylvania ground transportation corridor. We are pleased and excited to award this contract which brings us one step closer to making the I-95 interchange a reality," said Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin. "After years of study and intense work we've at least reached the point to begin design."

The project will create a full, direct, high-speed interchange at the juncture of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95; construct a new Turnpike mainline toll plaza with E-Z Pass; widen the Turnpike from four to six lanes in the project area; and build an additional, six-lane parallel bridge across the Delaware River into New Jersey.