A portion of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia that has been closed since lanes collapsed following a fire under the highway on June 11 is set to reopen over the weekend, officials said.
Part of I-95 collapsed after a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline exploded beneath an overpass, sparking a fire that weakened the steel support girders overhead, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Part of the interstate had to be demolished, a process that took four days of work.
Officials have since focused on building temporary lanes to allow traffic to move on the interstate as work to build a new bridge commences.
“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,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday in a news release.
“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.”
The highway, which stretches from Miami to the Canadian border in Maine, is among the busiest on the East Coast. Before the collapse, officials said the damaged lanes carried about 160,000 vehicles each day.
You can see a rendering for the plan to reopen I-95 at https://t.co/uY545WDT5m. #i95updates pic.twitter.com/2UkOei84Ir
— 511PA Philadelphia (@511PAPhilly) June 16, 2023
Officials continue to investigate the circumstances leading up to the collapse.
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