Governor Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday the section of I-95 that collapsed following a deadly truck crash and fire earlier this month will reopen to traffic this weekend. He talked about the new timeline in an exclusive interview with NBC10’s Rosemary Connors.
What to Know
- Traffic on I-95 will reopen this weekend, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said.
- Shapiro made the announcement while providing updates on the rebuilding process during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
- Shapiro also said temporary lanes of the highway had been completely refilled by a recycled glass aggregate.
The section of I-95 that collapsed during a deadly tanker truck crash and fire earlier this month will reopen to traffic this weekend, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said.
Shapiro made the announcement while providing updates on the rebuilding process during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. Shapiro also said temporary lanes of the highway had been completely refilled by a recycled glass aggregate.
Mixed with paper and plastic, bits of glass are the basis of the recycled glass aggregate, which is made by the Delaware County-based company AeroAggregates of North America.
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Crews will now lift large outer barriers into place along the new roadway and add a layer of modified subbase to hold those barriers in place, Shapiro said. They expect to complete the east side of the section by Tuesday night and the west side by Wednesday.
The crews will then begin paving three new lanes of the section in both directions, weather permitting. Pennsylvania State Police will escort trucks carrying the pavers up I-95 to make sure they get to the site safely and as quickly as possible, officials said.
Shapiro had initially said on Saturday that I-95 would reopen in two weeks. During Tuesday's press conference, he changed the timing to this weekend however, based on the progress he's seen so far.
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"Based on the tremendous progress that we have made over the last 72 hours and the time it takes to complete the remaining steps, I can confidently state right here right now that traffic will be flowing here on I-95 this weekend," Shapiro said. "We have worked around the clock to get this done, and we've completed each phase safely and ahead of schedule. That's all due to the incredible coordination with our local, state and federal partners -- and thanks to the hard-working men and women of the Philadelphia Building Trades who are making this happen."
"They've been working hard through the rain, through the excessive heat," Shapiro said. "And by the way when their families wanted them home for Father's Day, many of those dads were up there on this bridge. And that's because we can do big things here in Philly and those folks are a part of it. There's a real sense of civic pride. We all want to get this road reopened and I think that the eyes of the nation are on us. And Philly, the building trades, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our first responders, law enforcement, everybody's stepping up and doing a great job."
Shapiro also provided updates on when the permanent repairs on I-95 would be complete.
“We’re not going to miss a beat. As soon as we get these six lanes of traffic -- three north, three south open -- then we'll begin working on the permanent fix,” Shapiro said. “And I want to be clear, this temporary fix is just as safe, just as secure as the permanent fix, but what this process allowed us to do is get six lanes open as quickly as possible, then we'll move on immediately to the permanent fix. And I'll be able to provide a concrete timeline on that once that work begins."
Last week, Shapiro shared a livestream of the I-95 reconstruction. He described the engagement the livestream has gotten so far from viewers.
“It’s awesome! You can go down to Xfinity Live!, get 95 cent wings, and watch these incredible laborers do their jobs,” he said. “It’s awesome. I’m glad that folks are kind of tuning in and getting a chance to see what the Philadelphia Building Trades are all about. To see what civic pride looks like. That when we come together, we can do big things! That’s something I’ve been stressing as governor and it’s something that I’m going to continue to push. We can do big things again. And that livestream shows us doing it.”
Federal funds available for reconstruction
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration announced last week the immediate availability of $3 million in emergency relief funds to help PennDOT offset rebuilding costs for emergency operations, detour routes as well as preliminary engineering, surveys and design for the permanent restoration of I-95.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and other officials visited the collapse site to assess the damage. Gov. Shapiro said he will continue to remain in contact with Secretary Buttigieg and President Joe Biden to ensure Pennsylvania has access to all federal resources as the rebuild continues.
“President Biden has made it clear, as has Secretary Buttigieg, that the federal government is going to pay the full cost of this," Shapiro told NBC10 on Tuesday.
So what will it cost?
Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt told NBC10's Lauren Mayk that the preliminary cost estimate for the emergency repairs appeared to be in the $25 million to $30 million range. Federal emergency relief funds would help cover those costs.
"The administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation has estimated somewhere between $25 and $30 million," Shapiro said. "We'll have a full accounting of the cost and provide that to the public once it's done.”
Rendering of I-95 temporary reopening
PennDOT shared a rendering of what the temporary I-95 roadway reopening will look like while the bridge is being replaced. You can view the rendering here.
