Southbound I-95 lanes in Philadelphia to close next weekend as part of CAP project
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will close part of southbound I-95 in Philadelphia next weekend, part of its $329 million CAP project.
The closure will be split up, with one lane closing in the morning on Saturday, Feb. 24, and then all lanes closing by Saturday night.
PennDOT said Monday that about 67,000 vehicles use the section of I-95 that will be shut down.
At Monday's news conference, PennDOT spokesperson Brad Rudolph said the department will close one lane from I-95 South between I-676 and Walnut Street from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 24. Then, all lanes of I-95 South between Callowhill and Morris Streets will be closed for 36 hours. The closure takes effect at 5 p.m. on Feb. 24 until 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26. The left lane between Walnut and Chestnut Streets will be closed from 5 p.m. Feb. 24 to 5 a.m. Feb. 26.
Four ramps will also be closed. PennDOT said from 6 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, to mid-March, the Market Street ramp will be closed.
From 5 p.m. Feb. 24 to 5 a.m. Feb. 26, the ramp from I-676 East to I-95 South (Chester/Philadelphia International Airport) and I-95 South to Columbus Boulevard/Washington Avenue will be closed.
The ramp from Lombard Circle to I-95 North will remain closed, PennDOT said.
The closures are part of a major construction project PennDOT is working on with the City of Philadelphia. The bridges at Penn's Landing are being demolished so crews can replace the CAP and build an 11.5-acre park on top of it.
PennDOT said it will be noisy and dusty, but crews will work as quickly as possible to get it done.
"Now it's time to switch over to the southbound lanes, which has its own challenges being on the neighborhood side," Rudolph said. "There's less open space on the west side of the highway to store debris. There's also less room for heavy equipment to negotiate as the existing CAP continues to get smaller with its removal."
Despite the inconvenience for drivers, PennDOT said it's saving months of construction by closing down for one weekend. They said the alternative is overnight closures every weeknight for four to six months.
Earlier this month, the bridge over the northbound side was demolished the weekend of Feb. 3.
Construction on the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, which is expected to keep the bridge closed until 2027, began last September. In January, eight SEPTA bus routes were rerouted to new start and end locations due to construction on Market Street in Old City.
511PA is a free and always available tool travelers can use that provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. For more information on the I-95 CAP closure detours, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has an interactive map on its website.