January 20, 2022 – Most of the structural steel is in place and much of the new concrete deck has been poured for the new replacement ramp from the Betsy Ross Bridge to southbound Interstate 95 at the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange (see below).
Sections of the new ramp — minus parapets — are now in place over the I-95 mainline and where it curves southward on the west side of the interstate. Construction of the remainder of the new ramp structure that descends to the southbound lanes as it merges with the ramp from Aramingo Avenue will resume in the spring.
A short section of a new ramp from the bridge that also connects with the ramp to I-95 north (see below) is scheduled to finish this spring following completion of its abutment. The abutment remains under construction on the east side to I-95 as conditions permit this winter. A retaining wall along Juniata Street on the east side of I-95 that helps support the abutment is substantially completed.
These ramps remain detoured through the interchange with Aramingo Avenue on the west side of I-95.
When construction of the new ramp finishes this spring, the new ramp from the bridge to I-95 north and south will open. The ramp from southbound I-95 Aramingo Avenue will also reopen at this time.
With the connection from the bridge to I-95 restored this spring, the ramp from Aramingo Avenue to southbound I-95 that connects to the new ramp will be closed for reconstruction. Southbound Aramingo Avenue motorists heading for I-95 south will then be detoured to the I-95 south on-ramp at the adjacent Bridge Street Interchange.
Reconstruction of the ramp from northbound I-95 to the bridge (see below-left) — which passes over the Frankford Creek — also continues. The ramp is being rebuilt a half-at-a-time and remains open to traffic.
Section BR2 ramp construction ($93 million) started in mid-2020. When BR2 construction finishes in mid-2023, the ramps will be tied-in to improvements that were completed along Aramingo Avenue and Adams Avenue in late 2020.
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 2027.
The first ramp replacement contract at the interchange, Section BR0, was completed in 2017.
