January 24, 2025 – Deck construction on the new southbound viaduct at the Interstate 95 Bridge Street Interchange is underway as conditions permit crews this winter to install deck steel (see below) in preparation for the placement of the structure’s concrete deck this spring.
The work is part of the second major stage of PennDOT’s $268 million I-95/BS2 project that will reconstruct and widen I-95 in both directions between Margaret and Carver streets in Northeast Philadelphia.
Four retaining walls remain under construction along the southbound side. The walls will help support embankments that will carry a continuous fourth lane through the interchange and a new off-ramp at James Street.
As the retaining walls are completed, PennDOT’s contractor will begin installing the new stormwater drainage systems before beginning construction of sections of the new southbound pavement later this year.
Crews at that location will construct a new off-ramp to replace the southbound ramp to James Street that was closed last summer. The new ramp will pass under I-95 between Fraley and Van Kirk streets to a new signalized interchange on Tacony Street north of Bridge Street.
The southbound side of the new overpass is currently under construction.
During construction, traffic previously exiting southbound I-95 at Bridge Street is detoured to the Aramingo Avenue exit at the Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange, then north on Aramingo back to Bridge Street.
Utility work on surrounding surface streets by a number of subcontractors also continues, including installation of a water main under Tacony Street and electrical services along Aramingo Avenue and at the extension of Delaware Avenue.
During this stage of reconstruction:
Additional work under Section BS2 includes constructing a new on-ramp to I-95 north at the Tacony Street Interchange and construction of a section of the Delaware Avenue Extension, where utility installations are currently underway.
Section BS2, the second of five contracts to reconstruct Interstate 95 and improve the Bridge Street Interchange, is expected to be completed in 2028. PennDOT completed Section BS1 reconstruction to rebuild and widen I-95 between Levick and Carver streets in early 2023.
During all upcoming Section BS2 work, 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.
James J. Anderson Construction, of Philadelphia, is the general contractor on Section BS2.
