April 28, 2023 – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that the ramp from northbound Interstate 95 to Bridge Street/Harbison Avenue (Exit 27) was permanently closed on April 27, under the $267.9 million Section BS2 project to reconstruct the viaduct over Bridge and Tacony streets along with the adjacent sections of I-95, improve the interchange, and enhance traffic movement and safety on surface streets at the interchange in Northeast Philadelphia.
On Friday, April 28, from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM the following morning, one lane will be closed on northbound I-95 between the Betsy Ross Bridge and Bridge Street interchanges along with the ramp to northbound I-95 from Aramingo Avenue and the Betsy Ross Bridge for barrier placement to set up the new traffic pattern. Motorists will be detoured north on Aramingo Avenue, right on Tacony Street, then right on Bridge Street to the ramp to northbound I-95.
Following the completion of barrier placement on Friday, April 28, access to northbound I-95 from Aramingo Avenue and from the Betsy Ross Bridge will be restored to motorists.
The Exit 27 northbound off-ramp is being closed permanently for construction of a retaining wall along the northbound side of I-95 approaching the viaduct over Bridge and Tacony streets. That wall will help support temporary widening of the interstate for a traffic pattern that will maintain six lanes of traffic — three northbound, three southbound — during three-plus years of construction to replace the viaduct and rebuild the interchange under the Section BS2 contract.
Work continues in the I-95 median south of Bridge Street to build a crossover for the new pattern. Construction to replace the southbound side of the viaduct is scheduled to begin in early 2024. Replacement of the northbound side of the viaduct will follow.
Improvements already in place at the Betsy Ross Bridge interchange were designed to replace the closed Bridge Street ramp and improve safety and mobility at the currently congested merge point between the ramp and surface streets at the existing Bridge Street Interchange.
During construction from 2017 to 2020, Aramingo Avenue was widened between Wheatsheaf Lane and Church Street (Section BS4), and the Adams Avenue Connector was constructed (Section H04).
Reconstruction of I-95 immediately north of Bridge Street (Section BS1) is in its final stages and is expected to finish this summer. Traffic patterns and other activities on Sections BS1 and BS2 will be coordinated by PennDOT’s Construction Managers.
