July 7, 2026 – Construction activities will ramp up this summer on Interstate 95, Section AF3, a $311,308,607 contract to reconstruct and widen a 1.3-mile section of I-95 between Tioga Street and Wheatsheaf Lane and improve access to and from I-95 north at Castor Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia.
Preliminary activities on the project include work in the I-95 median (see below) to prepare for the installation of a protected work area for mainline reconstruction of the northbound lanes that is expected to begin this fall.
Once the work zone traffic pattern is in place on mainline I-95, three lanes each of northbound and southbound I-95 traffic will be shifted to the southbound side and median for the start of northbound demolition and construction, the first major stage of the project.
In addition, utility work will continue for the remainder of the year on surface streets within the project area. Periodic lane closures may be in place on Richmond Street, Castor Avenue, and Venango Street for utility work.
Replacement of a culvert – part of the I-95 stormwater management plan – has reduced the intersection of E. Allegheny Avenue and Delaware Avenue to a single lane with temporary traffic signals to manage traffic through the intersection until spring 2027.
Section AF3 construction will be coordinated as needed with that currently underway on Sections BR3 and BS2 at the adjacent Betsy Ross Bridge and Bridge Street interchanges.
The southbound side of I-95 between Wheatsheaf Lane and Tioga Street under the AF3 project will be reconstructed and widened following completion of work on the northbound side.
The Section AF3 contract includes reconstructing and widening northbound and southbound I-95 to four lanes at the northern end of the Allegheny/Castor Interchange. The contract will also reconfigure the interchange at Castor Avenue to include northbound on and off-ramps.
Noise walls will also be constructed along both sides of I-95 in the AF3 project area.
Section AF3 is scheduled to be completed in late 2031. It is the third of four contracts to reconstruct and improve I-95 at the Allegheny/Castor Interchange as part of Section AFC.
Sections AF1, completed in 2020, and AF2, completed in 2023, improved surface streets in the vicinity of the interchange. Section AF4 is expected to begin at the completion of AF3. That contract will complete the reconstruction at the interchange by rebuilding the I-95 between Tioga and Ann Street and improving access to and from I-95 at Allegheny Avenue.
South State Inc., of Bridgeton, NJ, is the general contractor on the 100 percent federally funded AF3 project.
