Philadelphia House Delegation praise reopening of I-95
Interstate 95 reopened today ahead of the originally planned timeline
Rep. Pat Gallagher June 23, 2023 | 1:30 PM
PHILADELPHIA, June 23 – The Philadelphia House Delegation today expressed satisfaction on the reopening of Interstate 95 today ahead of the originally scheduled two-week timeline.
Philadelphia House Delegation Chair Morgan Cephas said that the group, which toured the site this morning, values the immediate response and leadership of Gov. Josh Shapiro and expeditious work of crews from the Philadelphia building trades.
“Our tour this morning gave us an up-close look at the incredible work being done here,” Cephas said.
“It's only by the hard work of our local trades, facilitated by coordination with state, city and federal officials, that we're able to get this major artery through our city re-opened so much earlier than anyone expected,” Cephas added. “Our city is in awe and gratitude of the speedy engineering and production of our Philadelphia building trades members and contractors.”
Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton said that she celebrates the collective effort that made possible the reopening of six lanes of traffic that will keep the City of Brotherly Love up and running for locals and hundreds of visitors.
“Philadelphia is a hub for everything from commerce to health care to recreation,” said McClinton, D-Phila./Delaware. “So, today’s reopening of I-95 is great news for our neighbors, people who visit our city and people who transit the Keystone State.”
State Rep. Pat Gallagher, whose district includes the impacted zone, emphasized that he is glad that reconstruction will help the usual traffic flow on Interstate 95 resume because the collapsed section of the highway was causing major disruptions for traffic.
“Those of us in Northeast Philly are extremely grateful to see this stretch of highway re-open today,” Gallagher said.
“The detours have been a burden on our local streets and small businesses, as well as for commuters and travelers. We're thankful to Governor Shapiro and his administration, as well as the hardworking trades that worked day in and day out to facilitate this partial re-opening of I-95 to get our region moving again.”
The damaged portion of I-95 collapsed Sunday morning, June 11 after a tractor-trailer transporting gasoline crashed and caught fire.