PennDOT Awards $311.5 Million Contract to Reconstruct and Improve Southbound I-95 Between Allegheny and Columbia Avenues

PennDOT Awards $311.5 Million Contract to Reconstruct and Improve
Southbound I-95 Between Allegheny and Columbia Avenues

2/23/2018-KING OF PRUSSIA

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has awarded a
$311,570,199 contract to James J. Anderson Construction Company, Inc., of
Philadelphia to rebuild and improve 1.5 miles of southbound Interstate 95
between Allegheny Avenue and Columbia Avenue in Philadelphia. The project
also
includes replacement of the mile-long I-95 southbound viaduct and the
associated southbound ramps at Girard Avenue.

"This is another major step forward in our long-term plan to reconstruct an

aging mainline I-95 in Philadelphia," said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S.
Richards. "This project is also a unique opportunity to integrate the
PennDOT
Connects initiative and collaborate more closely with the communities the
highway serves to generate affordable and sustainable enhancements that
will
benefit these neighborhoods for generations."

Construction on I-95 Section GR4 is expected to begin in early spring.
Initial
activities will include construction of foundations for new piers that will

support the new southbound viaduct between Ann Street in Port Richmond and
Palmer Street in Fishtown. Early work also will take place at the
southbound
side of the Girard Avenue Interchange.

Removal and reconstruction of the existing southbound viaduct, as well as
construction to replace and improve the at-grade southbound lanes between
Allegheny Avenue and Ann Street, is expected to begin in late 2018 once the
new
northbound viaduct is completed. PennDOT is currently replacing the
northbound
viaduct at Girard Avenue under the $212 million Section GR3 contract.

Once the new northbound viaduct is completed this fall, PennDOT will shift
three southbound lanes onto the new northbound lanes from Allegheny Avenue
to
the new stretch of highway south of Columbia Avenue, which was
reconstructed
under the $39.3 million Section GR2 project that finished in 2016.

The southbound off-ramp at Girard Avenue also will be closed at that time
for
approximately two years to complete reconstruction from the interchange
north.
The on-ramp from Aramingo Avenue to southbound I-95 at the Girard Avenue
Interchange will remain open during its reconstruction.

During the off-ramp closure, southbound I-95 traffic normally exiting at
Girard
Avenue will be directed to exit at Allegheny Avenue and follow the detour
to
southbound Richmond Street back to the Girard Avenue Interchange area.

The Section GR4 contract will also construct sustainable enhancements
adjacent
to and beneath I-95. Among those features are a multi-use trail;
low-maintenance landscaping; urban stormwater management devices; enhanced
public spaces; LED street and understructure lighting; and thematic
formliners
for decorative treatment of bridge and abutment walls. PennDOT engineers
and
planners worked with the I-95 Sustainable Action Committee and
representatives
from the adjacent community to include these quality-of-life enhancements
in
the reconstruction of I-95. Other improvements include:

• Relocation of Aramingo Avenue between Delaware Avenue/Richmond Street and

Cumberland Street;
• Construction of three retaining walls to support embankments within the
interchange area;
• Installation of noise barrier walls along southbound I-95 from Indiana
Avenue
to Palmer Street and along southbound Aramingo Avenue from Norris Street to
the
southbound on-ramp; and
• Installation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) devices,
including
travel time readers, traffic cameras and dynamic message signs, along I-95,

U.S. 1 and U.S. 322 to assist PennDOT and the City of Philadelphia with
traffic
and incident management.

Construction of I-95 Section GR4 will take approximately four years to
complete. This project is financed with 100 percent federal funds.

For more information on I-95 improvement projects, visit www.95revive.com.

For more information on projects occurring or being bid this year, those
made
possible by or accelerated by Act 89, or those on the department's Four and

Twelve Year Plans, visit www.projects.penndot.gov.

A list of weekly road restrictions and PennDOT maintenance operations in
the
five-county Philadelphia region is available by visiting the District 6
Traffic
Bulletin at www.penndot.gov/District6.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including

color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 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 850
traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and
Android
devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts
accessible
on the 511PA website.

For more PennDOT information, visit www.penndot.gov. Follow local PennDOT
information on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAPhilly, and follow the
department on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/pennsylvaniadepartmentoftransportation and Instagram at
www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot.

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