January 24, 2023 – PennDOT’s contractor has begun pouring the concrete base as they excavate to install a new sanitary sewer line along Interstate 95 at the Cottman Avenue Interchange as part of the $52.7 million I-95/CP3 project.
Crews have installed sheet piles along the shoulder of southbound I-95 at the interchange to support the embankment during excavation for relocating the 10’x10’ sanitary sewer main. The work is taking place adjacent to southbound I-95 and east of State Road, between Cottman and Princeton avenues.
Once the sewer installation finishes later this year, work will start on a retaining wall that help will support construction of the new ramp to I-95 south from Cottman Avenue in the area once occupied by Wissinoming Street. Ramp construction is anticipated to be completed late this year.
Following completion of the new ramp, Wissinoming Street will be rebuilt along southbound I-95 between Cottman and Princeton avenues.
Utility installation and roadway construction continue on Elbridge Street and Levick Street in the vicinity of the Tacony Palmyra Bridge. Traffic has been shifted to the reconstructed roadway while crews complete work on the opposite side.
The westbound off-ramps from the Bridge to Elbridge Street and New State Road will be streamlined into one ramp to make pedestrian crossing safer.
Removal of inactive rail lines continues on Milnor Street. Temporary driveways are in place for homes and businesses affected by this work.
PennDOT’s contractor has temporarily shifted all four lanes of southbound I-95 at the interchange to accommodate construction on the main and to allow additional space for the new Cottman on-ramp to be built and tied into the interstate.
Improved drainage, new pavement, turn lanes at intersections, and new sidewalks have already been installed along New State Road between Magee Avenue and Elbridge Street.
During construction, which is expected to finish in late 2023, there will be periodic off-peak travel restrictions and pedestrian-posted detours on surface streets around and approaching the Cottman Avenue Interchange, including New State Road and its intersections at Magee Avenue and Unruh Street, and State Road and its intersections with Cottman Avenue and Princeton Avenue.
Under two previous construction projects – CP1, completed in 2012, and CP2, completed in 2017 — I-95 was reconstructed and widened to four lanes in each direction between Bleigh Avenue and Levick Street. I-95 bridges over Bleigh Avenue, Princeton Avenue, New State Road, Unruh Avenue and Magee Avenue also were replaced.
In addition, a new southbound on-ramp was constructed at Longshore Avenue, and a new northbound on-ramp was constructed at Milnor Street to merge with the existing on-ramp from Princeton Avenue. A number of surface streets in the vicinity of the interchange also were improved, including Cottman and Princeton avenues and New State Road.
The work is part of the I-95/Section CP3 project to construct a new southbound I-95 on-ramp at Cottman Avenue and improve traffic flow on surface streets in the vicinity of the Cottman-Princeton Interchange. C. Abbonizio Contractors, Inc. of Sewell, N.J., is the general contractor on the 100 percent federally funded project.
