July 19, 2023 – Deck and parapet construction on the rebuilt ramps from the Betsy Ross Bridge and Aramingo Avenue to southbound Interstate 95 will finish (see below and bottom-right photo) and the ramps will be reopened to motorists this fall to substantially complete PennDOT’s $93 million project to replace four ramp structures at the I-95/Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange in Philadelphia.
The new ramp from the Bridge that sweeps over the interstate before turning south to merge with the ramp from Aramingo Avenue on their descent to southbound I-95, along with the ramp from Aramingo Avenue to I-95 south, has been under construction since mid-2022.
During the remaining ramp construction, all traffic to I-95 south continues to run through the interchange at Aramingo Avenue, using the westbound Adams Avenue Connector as part of the detour route. Motorists are being directed to the I-95 south on-ramp at the Bridge Street Interchange. The detour will remain in place until the ramps are completed and opened to traffic.
Replacement of the ramp from northbound I-95 over the Frankford Creek to the Bridge (see above), which remained open during construction, has finished.
In mid-April, PennDOT permanently closed the northbound off-ramp at Bridge Street (Exit 27) for improvements to that interchange and improved safety on surface streets there. Bridge traffic normally using that ramp, along with northbound I-95 traffic heading to Bridge Street, is being directed to Aramingo Avenue and the surface streets at Bridge Street.
Improvements completed in 2020 on the west side of the Betsy Ross interchange — including widening on Aramingo Avenue between Wheatsheaf Lane and Church Street and construction of the Adams Avenue Connector — were designed to better manage traffic flow to and from Bridge Street.
The Adams Avenue Connector was opened to two-way traffic between Aramingo Avenue and Torresdale Avenue prior to the closing of Exit 27.
Two additional contracts, Sections BR3 and BR4, will reconstruct almost a mile of I-95’s mainline between the Betsy Ross Bridge and Bridge Street interchanges. Section BR3, which will reconstruct the northbound lanes of I-95 and replace two additional ramps, is scheduled for construction in 2024. Southbound I-95 reconstruction at the interchange is currently scheduled for 2026 under the BR4 contract. The first ramp replacement contract at the interchange, Section BR0, was completed in 2017.
