July 17, 2023 – With the new median barrier now in place on Interstate 95 at the northern end of the Bridge Street Interchange, substantially completing Section BS1 (see below), work has shifted to the southern end of the interchange under the $268 million Section BS2 contract to rebuild the aging interstate between Carver and Margaret streets.
Section BS1 reconstructed and widened I-95’s pavement — replacing bridges over Comly Street and Van Kirk Street — between Levick Street and Carver Street starting in 2020. As BS1 construction was wrapping up, preliminary Section BS2 work started in late 2022. BS2 is the second of five contracts, or sections, to reconstruct the interstate and improve the interchange at Bridge Street by relocating the northbound on-ramp and the southbound off-ramp to a single point on Tacony Street near Carver Street.
The remainder of 2023 work at Bridge Street will focus on relocating numerous street-level utilities and building a retaining wall along the northbound lanes of I-95 (see below, right). The wall will support temporary pavement for a traffic pattern that will be in place for several years while the viaduct over Bridge and Tacony streets is replaced with a wider structure.
The six-lane traffic pattern — three northbound, three southbound lanes — will form a new work zone that extends through the interchange area during three-plus years of construction beginning in early 2024 to replace the viaduct and rebuild the interchange. The southbound side of the viaduct will be replaced first, with the northbound side to follow.
The northbound I-95 off-ramp to Bridge Street (Exit 27) was permanently closed in April 2023 for construction of the temporary retaining wall. The permanent closure of this ramp will improve safety and mobility on surface streets between the adjacent interchanges. Traffic previously using the northbound off-ramp to Bridge Street is now exiting at the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange and following Aramingo Avenue north back to Bridge Street.
Section BS2 will reconstruct I-95 between Margaret Street and Carver Street, replace the bridges over Fraley Street and Carver Street, relocate the James Street off-ramp, and construct a new on-ramp to I-95 north from Tacony Street and the Delaware Avenue extension.
During all upcoming work on Section BS2, three travel lanes in each direction will remain open during peak travel times, though periodic off-peak lane closures may be in place on I-95 during certain stages of construction operations. However, a number of different traffic patterns will be in place on the surface streets at the interchange (Bridge Street, Tacony Street, Aramingo Avenue) during BS2 construction.
Section BS2 is scheduled to be completed in late 2026.
Motorists are advised to allow extra time for travel through all I-95 work areas.
The H&K Group, Inc. of Skippack, Montgomery County, is the Section BS1 ($79.7 million) general contractor. James J. Anderson Construction, of Philadelphia, is the general contractor on Section BS2.
