Some information
on the super highway

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

The plans are in the early stages, but some major changes are coming to Interstate 95 in the area around the Bridge Street ramps.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation hosted an open house at Frankford High School to outline its proposals.
In general, the project will improve access to the interstate and remove traffic from some neighborhood streets.
“It will be a benefit for the people on I-95 and the communities that surround I-95,” said PennDOT’s Michael Girman, the project manager.
Residents looked at maps that showed the proposed changes, and engineers and PennDOT officials answered questions during the two-hour session on April 24.
The designs were created following the results of traffic and environmental studies and the development of engineering concepts for changes to the layout and configuration of the interstate and its interchanges at Bridge Street and the Betsy Ross Bridge/Aramingo Avenue. An estimated 180,000 motorists drive those areas of I-95 every day.
PennDOT will also reconstruct a three-mile stretch of the interstate from south of Cottman Avenue to the Betsy Ross Bridge.
The preliminary engineering phases of both projects will be completed by the end of the year. The final design will begin next year and last until 2012, when construction will start.
The construction will be done in phases as funding becomes available.
Guests at the open house were welcome to ask questions or express their opinions in a comment box. As the planning continues, PennDOT will hold additional public meetings.
Some of the highlights of the project include:
• Widening I-95 southbound from three to four lanes between the James Street exit ramp and the Aramingo Avenue/Betsy Ross Bridge on-ramp.
• Widening I-95 northbound from three lanes to four lanes between the Betsy Ross Bridge/Aramingo Avenue interchange and the Bridge Street on-ramp.
• Widening Aramingo Avenue to provide three lanes southbound and two lanes northbound as well as left-turn lanes at Tacony, Margaret and Orthodox streets.
• Eliminating the I-95 southbound off-ramp to James Street and building an off-ramp to Tacony Street.
• Closing the I-95 southbound entrance ramp on Harbison Avenue near Bridge Street.
• Providing new interchange ramps to and from Aramingo Avenue and the Betsy Ross Bridge.
• Tearing down nine houses on Pratt Street, between James and Tacony streets, and 12 houses on James Street, between Pratt and Bridge streets. PennDOT will buy the houses from owners after an independent appraisal of the value.
• Demolishing the former Henry Longfellow School, on James Street, which is privately owned.
There will be no direct impact on the Frankford Business Arsenal Center or Amtrak. Girman said that PennDOT would like to keep three lanes of I-95 open each way during construction.
Jim Rollinson, an engineer with STV, cautioned that no final decisions have been made on the proposed changes.
“This is preliminary and going into its final design next year,” he said.
Nonetheless, officials believe the proposals offer great potential.
For instance, the increase from three to four lanes will help move traffic during rush hour.
Also, the closing of the I-95 southbound entrance ramp on Harbison Avenue near Bridge Street will eliminate the dangerous practice of motorists trying to squeeze into the right-hand lane mere feet from the ramp. An extra lane will be added to carry the additional traffic to the Aramingo Avenue entrance ramp to I-95.
And, the elimination of the off-ramp to James Street on southbound I-95 will ease traffic on a residential area.
“That ramp does not belong there,” Girman said.
In its place will be a deceleration ramp that begins on I-95 at Comly Street and travels on Carver Street to a traffic light at Tacony Street. ••
For more information on the project, go to www.95revive.com
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com