The collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia will reopen within two weeks, Pennsylvania's governor said Saturday after joining President Biden on a helicopter tour over the critical stretch of highway closed to East Coast traffic since last weekend. "We are getting it done here in Philly," Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a briefing at Philadelphia International Airport after the flyover that included members of Congress and the city's mayor. Biden outlined the initial federal commitment and longer-term support for a permanent fix for the vital roadway, the AP reports.
"I know how important this stretch of highway is" to Philadelphia and the Northeast Corridor, Biden said. "Over 150,000 vehicles travel on it every day, including 14,000 trucks. … It's critical to our economy, and it's critical to our quality of life.'" Shapiro, offering a timeline that would be welcome news to commuters and long-haul truckers, said with Biden at his side: "I can state with confidence that we will have I-95 reopened within the next two weeks. We are going to get traffic moving again thanks to the extraordinary work that is going on here." The stretch of the East Coast's main north-south highway collapsed early last Sunday after a tractor-trailer hauling gasoline flipped over on an off-ramp and caught fire.
Shapiro said people are coming together for the project, showing "a real renewed sense of civic pride." The president said he told his team "to move heaven and earth to get this done as soon as humanly possible," adding that he told Shapiro "there's no more important project right now in the country." The plan involves trucking in 2,000 tons of lightweight glass nuggets, with crews working around the clock until the interstate is open to traffic. Instead of rebuilding the overpass right away, crews will use the recycled glass to fill in the collapsed area to avoid supply-chain delays for other materials, Shapiro has said. A replacement bridge will then be built next to it to reroute traffic while crews excavate the fill to restore the exit ramp.
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