The damaged portion of Philadelphia’s Interstate 95 will reopen six lanes of traffic at noon on Friday, according to a Thursday press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The announcement comes after construction crews have been working around the clock to repair the highway ahead of schedule.
During a Wednesday briefing, Governor Josh Shapiro and PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll stated the closed section would reopen sometime this weekend.
“Based on the tremendous progress these crews made over the weekend and the time it takes to complete the remaining steps, I can now say that we will have I-95 back open this weekend,” Shapiro said.
The updated press release claims that “temporary travel lanes ... three in each direction” will be opened Friday.
Meanwhile, work continues “to rebuild the outer sections of the permanent bridge. Throughout the day [Wednesday], crews placed the final outside and median barriers for the new roadway,” the release states.
The reconstruction has been in response to a June 11 incident, in which a raised section of the roadway collapsed after a tanker truck carrying gasoline crashed and went up in flames underneath.
Roughly 2,000 tons of lightweight glass nuggets were transported in for a speedy and innovative rebuild of the interstate that President Joe Biden called “critical to our economy and it’s critical to our quality of life.”
Upon touring the damage site with Gov. Shapiro, Biden stated, “There’s no more important project right now in the country as far as I’m concerned.”