Following traffic delays and nightmarish commutes, the collapsed portion of Interstate 95 in Northeast Philadelphia is open again, with six temporary lanes.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll thanked the crews involved in the interstate repair as well as the commuters of Philadelphia Friday morning as they celebrated the reopening of I-95.
“We showed them what our grit and our determination are all about,” Shapiro said, recognizing that the overpass collapse and repair had caught national attention.
Carroll asked that travelers drive through the new structures carefully and take their time moving through the new zone. The reconstruction consists of six 11-foot temporary lanes, which are slightly tighter than usual but not unordinary.
“I know everybody goes fast sometimes, I do too, but the reality is I hope everybody can just go through this at a safe speed and keep each other safe,” Carroll said.
Shapiro and Carroll announced on Tuesday that the collapsed portion of the interstate would reopen ahead of the originally projected two-week timeline, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
“We have worked around the clock to get this done, and we’ve completed each phase safely and ahead of schedule,” Shapiro said Tuesday.
The temporary repair, which completed demolition in four days, beating original estimates, relied on glass aggregate from Delaware County’s AeroAggregates to build up the I-95 roadway gap.
Crews will continue to work on the interstate to pave three new lanes heading in both directions.
The race to repair the overpass began after a tanker truck fire on June 11 caused the collapse of the elevated northbound lanes between Exits 30 and 32.
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office identified the remains of the fuel truck driver as Nathan Moody, and the death was ruled an accident.
Moody, an Army veteran and father of three, drove the same route every Sunday morning working the overnight shift to deliver gas.
Glass recycling by Burlington County residents helped get the road back open.
Burlington County is one of the major suppliers of recycled glass to AeroAggregates, which used ultra-light, foamed glass aggregate rocks crushed from the recycled glass as fill for the I-95 repair.
Last year, Burlington County shipped more than 7,100 tons of glass to the Delaware County, Pennsylvania, company.
“Burlington County has supplied AeroAggregates with crushed recycled glass for the past four years. It’s a great partnership and we were thrilled to learn that the company’s rocks were being used to build the temporary highway on I-95,” said Burlington County Commissioner Deputy Director Tom Pullion. “It’s a great example of where recycling ends up and how it can make a difference. Every glass bottle and jar we toss into recycling containers matters, so we encourage our residents to continue to recycle right.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Race to finish I-95:Pocono Raceway sending Jet Dryer to help with I-95 repair in Philadelphia
Who was driving?:Driver killed in I-95 collapse ID’d as Nathan Moody, a Pennsauken trucking company worker
Watch the work:Watch the I-95 livestream as crews make repairs to collapsed highway in Philadelphia
