79686 | I-95, Columbia Avenue to Ann Street (GR1) (Philadelphia City)

This construction contract will include all major utility relocation work and a majority of the surface street reconstruction and relocation work between Berks Street and Ann Street. Most of Delaware Avenue and relocated Richmond Street will be reconstructed and the temporary detour road will be constructed along Conrail’s Port Richmond Yard. Delaware Avenue will be relocated onto Richmond Street and Aramingo Avenue will then form a T-intersection with these roadways. Girard Avenue and Aramingo Avenue will also be reconstructed as much as possible with completion of the Girard Avenue interchange ramps following in later phases of the project (Sections GR3 and GR4). Section GR1 will include structures such as the Girard Avenue trolley bridge, the four (4) bridges carrying Conrail over relocated Richmond Street and associated retaining walls along Richmond Street and the detour road. Besides the detour road construction, associated detour route improvements would be made such as temporary intersection improvements and signal retimings. This section also includes the SEPTA Route 15 Trolley relocation and associated catenaries work and relocation of Conrail’s Belt and Loop Lines. Pedestrian and bicycle facilities are present along Delaware Avenue, Richmond Street, Aramingo Avenue and Girard Avenue. The pedestrian and bicycle facilities will be expanded under this project to include wider sidewalks, a shared-use trail and other pathways. Appropriate pedestrian access will be provided via signalized crossings, refuge medians, signing, hand/man signals and visible pavement markings. This project is being coordinated with the I-95 Section CPR and Section AFC projects from a construction letting and geographical location standpoint. This project is a breakout of MPMS# 17821 (GIR).
Project CMP (Congestion Management Process) commitments include strategies such as improvements for transit users, bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers on the existing road network (operations). See DVRPC’s annual memoranda on supplemental strategies for details related to this project.
This project is integral to the Delaware Valley Freight Corridors Initiative.
I-95 is a major facility built in the 1960s which runs through Bucks, Philadelphia, and Delaware Counties in the DVRPC region. More than $2.7 billion will provide for the repair, reconstruction and restoration of I-95 in Philadelphia for approximately eight miles between I-676/Vine Street and Cottman Avenue that PennDOT is currently working to improve in order to address critical repairs on aging bridges and interchanges, and improve traffic flow by adding new ramps and creating a more consistent four-lane highway in both directions by eliminating lane-drops and providing continuous lanes connecting the on-off ramps. Appropriate pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities may also be expanded depending on the particular construction section. This reconstruction of I-95 has been divided into various “sections” (including GIR, CPR, BSR, BRI, AFC, Congestion Management, and drainage projects) in over 20 separate MPMS #s, most of which appear in the Interstate Management Program (IMP), and some of which appear in the DVRPC Regional Highway Program of the TIP. MPMS #s for the overall corridor include: 17821, 47394, 47811, 47812, 47813, 79683, 79685, 79686, 79826, 79827, 79828, 79903, 79904, 79905, 79908, 79910, 79911, 79912, 80094, 83640, 87784, 98207, 102304, 102305, and 102309. Please refer to the DVRPC I-95 Reconstruction Project in Philadelphia Roadmap in the TIP for additional information about the various sections and corresponding MPMS#’s as well as notations on future and previous projects which may not currently be active and do not appear in the IMP or TIP.