October 2, 2020 – Construction at the Interstate 95 Girard Avenue Interchange continued to progress over the summer months with most of the southbound viaduct’s deck beams now set and the remainder expected to be in place by early 2021 as construction of the concrete deck and parapets continues through fall 2021.
Work on this project is proceeding in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan that includes social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, and other measures designed to minimize the risk of infection to construction workers, inspectors, and managers.
All of the new southbound viaduct’s support piers were in place by late summer, allowing crews to set deck beams and continue systematically placing deck steel and deck concrete in sections, working mostly north-to-south toward the middle of the new structure.
At the viaduct’s southern end, crews are building the new southbound pavement in coordination with construction of the new southbound on-ramp. Construction of the new on-ramp is being staged so that the ramp remains open during construction while the new bridge that carries Aramingo Avenue through the interchange complex is built.
Related construction to widen Aramingo Avenue approaching the bridge and ramp beginning at York Street is ongoing. New sidewalks have been built on the east side of Aramingo Avenue between York and Cumberland streets, but sidewalks on the west side remain to be completed.
Crews also continue construction of foundations and support piers this fall for the interchange’s new southbound off-ramp. Placement of beams and steel for the ramp’s deck is expected to get underway in early 2021, with ramp paving scheduled for next spring.
Southbound I-95 motorists heading for Girard Avenue continue to be directed to exit at Allegheny Avenue and follow the detour along Allen Street — a temporary stretch of road that PennDOT built alongside northbound I-95 between Cambria Street and Allegheny Avenue — back to the Girard Avenue Interchange area.
Much of the new at-grade southbound I-95 pavement is now in place from just south of the Allegheny Avenue Interchange to the start of the viaduct at Ann Street. This new pavement eventually will connect with the concrete pavement on the viaduct and ramp.
Construction of the new southbound viaduct is expected to continue through 2021. The new structure will provide four southbound through lanes as well as a continuous on-off lane that will run between the Allegheny Avenue on-ramp and the Aramingo Avenue on-ramp at the Girard Avenue Interchange.
Sound wall panels are now in place on the wall adjacent to the new on-ramp from Aramingo Avenue to southbound I-95. Sound wall panels will be erected atop parapets along the new southbound viaduct between Indiana Avenue and Palmer Street during the later stages of construction on the GR4 contract.
The GR4 contract also includes installation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) components that are currently under construction at various locations across the region (on I-95, U.S. 1, and U.S. 322) that will assist PennDOT and the City of Philadelphia with traffic and incident management on the region’s highways.
The new and improved southbound I-95 will connect to a 1,200 foot-segment of I-95 south of the interchange that was reconstructed in 2013-2015 under the GR2 contract. Northbound I-95 between the Girard Avenue and Allegheny Avenue interchanges, including a new northbound viaduct, was reconstructed under the GR3 contract that finished in 2017.
