October 8, 2025 – Work zone setup activities are heading toward completion late this year on Interstate 95 between the Betsy Ross Bridge and Allegheny Avenue interchanges for the $355.3 million Section BR3 project to reconstruct, widen, and improve northbound I-95 between Wheatsheaf Lane and Margaret Street in Northeast Philadelphia.
Three lanes of northbound I-95 traffic were shifted temporarily in early fall to the outside lanes and shoulders beginning just north of Allegheny Avenue. (This pattern transitions into the existing three lane pattern through the work area at the Bridge Street Interchange to create a continuous three lane pattern through approaching the Cottman Avenue Interchange.)
Following that shift, work got started to remove the median barrier and repave it for use as work area travel lanes. Crossovers will be built this fall to shift traffic into work zone patterns.
Last spring, southbound I-95 was reduced to three lanes through the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange to allow reconstruction of the southbound shoulder to enable it to carry traffic.
Once the southbound shoulder work and median prep are finished later this year, southbound vehicles will be shifted to the west side of I-95, and northbound traffic will be shifted to the left onto the rebuilt median for northbound BR3 reconstruction beginning in early 2026. Northbound reconstruction at Bridge Street and at Allegheny Avenue (AF3) is expected to begin in early 2026 as well. All three projects – BR3, BS2, and AF3 — will utilize the work zone that is being set up for BR3.
PennDOT will coordinate BR3 northbound reconstruction with BS2 and AF3 northbound reconstruction to minimize disruptions to traffic.
Section BR3, the third of five contract sections to reconstruct and improve I-95 at the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange, continues PennDOT’s long-term commitment to rebuilding and improving the aging I-95 infrastructure in Pennsylvania.
In addition to reconstructing and widening northbound I-95 from three lanes to four lanes between Wheatsheaf Lane underpass to just north of Margaret Street, Section BR3 will re-align Pearce Street to connect to Orthodox Street; replace the northbound I-95 bridge over the Frankford Creek; rehabilitate two ramps and replace two other ramp structures with at-grade fill; construct new retaining walls; and erect new sound walls.
The southbound side of I-95 at the Interchange will be completed under the BR4 contract that is tentatively scheduled to go to construction in 2027.
PennDOT completed Sections BR0 (2017) and BR2 (2023), which reconstructed numerous ramps and bridges at the interchange. Ground-level and utility work were also completed under these projects. Click here for more details.
Haines & Kibblehouse Construction of Skippack, PA, is the general contractor.
