On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll was joined by Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and other officials to commemorate the completion of the permanent repairs to Interstate 95 in northeast Philadelphia.
In June 2023, a fire from a tanker truck caused a portion of the roadway to collapse. A temporary roadway opened 12 days after the collapse.
The outer sections on the northbound and southbound sides of the bridge were then rebuilt before I-95 traffic was shifted from the temporary center lanes, onto the completed, outer sections of the new bridge last November.
All lanes on I-95 in the area opened to traffic at 5 a.m., May 24 along with one lane on the newly constructed ramp from northbound I-95 to Cottman Avenue.
“Today serves as another example to all that Pennsylvania can do big things," Carroll said. “Thanks to the dedication of the workers and incredible coordination between the Shapiro Administration, our federal partners, and the City of Philadelphia, traffic flowed freely on I-95 throughout construction and we were able to restore the roadway to full capacity less than a year after the tragic fire and collapse."
The project had a price tag of $20 million, and was funded mostly by federal dollars.
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Source: KYW Radio, PennDOT
