Richmond Street 2-Year Detour Starts Thursday In Port Richmond
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Attention drivers: Richmond Street will be closed and detoured for about two years in Port Richmond beginning Thursday afternoon.
PennDOT says Richmond Street will be closed to through traffic and detoured between Lehigh Avenue and Cambria Street for construction of four new overhead Contrail bridges and the replacement of a large sewer main.
A posted detour will take Richmond Street through traffic over Lehigh Avenue, Aramingo Avenue and Allegheny Avenue while crews build four new structures to carry Conrail tracks over Richmond Street.
In addition, PennDOT says the contractor will replace a sewer main and finish relocating Richmond Street to the east between Lehigh Avenue and Ann Street.
In conjunction with closing part of Richmond Street on Thursday, PennDOT also will shift Richmond Street traffic over to the rebuilt and relocated section of the street between Dyott Street and Lehigh Avenue.
PennDOT is rebuilding Richmond Street on a new alignment to the east of the existing roadway to make room for a new ramp and other improvements on I-95.
The rebuilt and relocated Richmond Street will include two through lanes, a center turn lane, tracks for SEPTA's Route 15 trolley, northbound and southbound bicycle lanes, sidewalks and decorative street lights. A long retaining wall with "form liner" finishes depicting waterfront-themed images separates Richmond Street from the Conrail property on the east side of the street.
PennDOT says all improvements are expected to be completed and Richmond Street reopened in early 2016.
In addition to the work on Richmond Street, PennDOT is currently rebuilding I-95 between Palmer Street and Frankford Avenue, which is the third project in PennDOT's program to improve I-95 from Race Street to just south of Allegheny Avenue and to rebuild the interchange at Girard Avenue. The fourth project, which is scheduled to start in early spring, will reconstruct the northbound side of I-95 from Columbia Avenue to Ann Street and rebuild Delaware Avenue.
Construction on Richmond Street is part of PennDOT's $91.3 million project to improve surface streets and relocate utilities in the vicinity of the Interstate 95/Girard Avenue Interchange. This project is the second of six in PennDOT's program to rebuild and improve three miles of I-95 and its interchange at Girard Avenue.
Motorists can check conditions on I-95 and other major roadways 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 680 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available by calling 5-1-1, and regional Twitter alerts are available on the 511PA website.