PennDOT to Extend Adams Avenue and Improve Aramingo Avenue at Betsy Ross Bridge Interchange

January 23, 2017 – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that construction begins Saturday, January 21, on an $81 million contract to improve and extend Adams Avenue to the new Interstate 95 ramps for the Betsy Ross Bridge at Aramingo Avenue, and reconstruct and widen Aramingo Avenue in the vicinity of the new ramps.

On Saturday, January 21, from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Aramingo Avenue will be reduced to one lane in each direction between Church Street and Wheatsheaf Lane to establish a new construction traffic pattern for the first stage of the project. The new pattern will shift four lanes of Aramingo Avenue to the east through the work area and create a left turn lane from northbound Aramingo Avenue to the existing I-95 ramps. The pattern will be in place through the end of 2017 while crews construct the first half of a new bridge over Frankford Creek and reconstruct the western half of Aramingo Avenue.

During construction, pedestrian traffic also will be moved to a newly constructed sidewalk along the east side of Aramingo Avenue.

During the three-and-a-half year project, PennDOT will reconstruct Adams Avenue between Torresdale Avenue and Ashland Street and extend Adams Avenue (Adams Avenue Connector) from its current terminus at Ashland Street to the new ramp complex currently under construction at the I-95 interchange along Aramingo Avenue. 

Aramingo Avenue will be rebuilt and widened between Church Street and Wheatsheaf Lane to include four through lanes and turn lanes at signalized intersections with Church Street, the new Adams Avenue Connector, and the reconstructed and expanded ramps to and from I-95 and the Betsy Ross Bridge. In addition, the Aramingo Avenue bridge over Frankford Creek, located adjacent to the interchange area, will be reconstructed. 

Adams Avenue improvements also include:

• Construction of left and right turn lanes on Torresdale Avenue at Adams Avenue;
• Realignment of the intersection of Adams Avenue and Tacony Street;
• Construction of a section of a multi-use trail (Frankford Creek Greenway); and
• Installation of new traffic signals, overhead message signs, landscaping and new street lights at several locations.

The entire project is expected to be completed in fall 2020.

A.P. Construction, Inc., of Blackwood, NJ, is the general contractor on the $81,022,883 contract which is financed with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds.