King of Prussia, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that the ramp from northbound Interstate 95 to Bridge Street/Harbison Avenue (Exit 27) will close permanently on Thursday, 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.

Motorists are advised of the following travel restrictions over the next two weeks to set up the new traffic pattern south of the Bridge Street Interchange:

• Thursday, April 20, Friday, April 21, Monday, April 24, and Tuesday, April 25, from 8:00PM to 5:00 AM the following morning, the inside left lane will be closed on northbound and southbound I-95 between the Betsy Ross Bridge and Bridge Street interchanges for median construction;
• Wednesday, April 26, and Thursday, April 27, from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM the following morning, two lanes on northbound I-95 between the Betsy Ross Bridge and Bridge Street interchanges, plus the ramp to northbound I-95 from Aramingo Avenue and the Betsy Ross Bridge, will be closed for preparations to close the Exit 27 ramp. Motorists will be detoured north on Aramingo Avenue, right on Tacony Street, then right on Bridge street to the ramp to northbound I-95;
• Thursday, April 27, beginning at or after 9:00 PM, the northbound I-95 ramp to Bridge Street (Exit 27) will close permanently. Motorists heading to Bridge Street/Harbison Avenue (Exit 27) from northbound I-95 or the Betsy Ross Bridge will begin using the ramp to Aramingo Avenue (Exit 26 on I-95 North) and follow Aramingo Avenue north to Bridge Street/Harbison Avenue; and
• Friday, April 28, from 9:00PM 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. 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 by motorists from Aramingo Avenue and from the Betsy Ross Bridge will be restored. 

The date of the ramp closure, tentatively scheduled to occur on or after Tuesday, April 18, was changed to allow crews to complete necessary adjustments to the drainage system at the interchange.

The Exit 27 northbound off-ramp is being closed 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 by early summer. Traffic patterns and other activities on Sections BS1 and BS2 will be coordinated by PennDOT's Construction Managers.

Motorists are advised to allow extra time for travel through all I-95 work areas.

For more information on PennDOT's I-95 reconstruction program, visit www.95revive.com.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

For a complete list of construction projects impacting state-owned highways in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, visit the District 6 Traffic Bulletin.

Information about infrastructure in District 6, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D6Results. Find PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov. 

Subscribe to PennDOT District 6 news and traffic alerts at www.penndot.pa.gov/District6.

Follow PennDOT on Twitter and like the department on Facebook and Instagram.

Contact: Brad Rudolph, bradrudolph@pa.gov

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