Welcome to the I-95 Girard Avenue Interchange project section of 95revive.com.

PennDOT's proposed improvements to the I-95 Girard Avenue Interchange are an important part of the overall upgrades to the I-95 corridor north of Center City Philadelphia. This website will provide information that will help the community understand and stay involved as this project progresses through the various stages of engineering and construction.

Bookmark this site for convenient up-to-date information about the interchange, and be sure to visit 95revive.com regularly for complete Interstate 95 reconstruction information.

Click here for a look at the new Girard Avenue Interchange.

September 2007

PROPERTY ACQUISITION, SURVEYING, ARCHAEOLOGY UNDERWAY AT GIRARD INTERCHANGE

While crews are completing routine surveying work at the southbound I-95 Girard Avenue off ramp, PennDOT is beginning the process to purchase a small number of properties for the project to reconstruct the interchange and adjacent sections of I-95.

Owners of most of properties that will be affected by the project are beginning to be notified by PennDOT or its representatives.

Routine archaeological field work also is underway at the interchange in September. Crews will excavate several small test "pits" in the infield area between the southbound off-ramp and Aramingo Avenue. The "pits" provide a random sampling of the subsurface to ensure that nothing of historical or archaeological significance is disturbed during construction at that location.

The surveying and archaeological work is being done in advance of the construction scheduled for this location in 2008 and 2009.

Minor changes to the traffic pattern on the ramp may be in place during the survey work.

First Stage of New Girard Avenue Interchange Could Begin in Late 2008

Construction of temporary off-ramp and road to be built in first stage of multi-stage project

PennDOT will start reconstruction of the Girard Avenue Interchange by building a temporary ramp and new lanes to carry northbound Aramingo Avenue on a new alignment under a contract that could begin in late 2008. The first phase improvements will help move traffic through the interchange area until the latter phases of reconstruction, when new, direct access to the waterfront will be built. Five additional phases will follow in the overall project to rebuild the interchange and widen and rebuild three miles of I-95 to the north and south of the interchange.

The temporary ramp will be built as an offshoot of the existing off-ramp from I-95 south at Girard Avenue. It will connect traffic from the interstate with southbound Aramingo Avenue and move it directly to the waterfront along Delaware Avenue. Aramingo Avenue will be made one-way southbound at its intersection with the temporary ramp. A temporary signal will control traffic movement.

The new lanes of Aramingo Avenue will move traffic between the Delaware Avenue and York Street intersections. It will split northbound traffic at the Delaware Avenue intersection and merge with the existing connector ramp that runs from Girard Avenue east to Aramingo Avenue north near Norris Street. A short spur will allow traffic to turn left at a temporary signal onto Aramingo Avenue south and continue on to Delaware Avenue or the existing ramp to I-95 South.

This first phase, known as Section GR0 of the overall Girard Avenue project (GIR) will cost approximately $8 million and will take about 12 months to complete.

Subsurface Soil Drilling, Environmental Surveys
Planned for the I-95/Girard Avenue Interchange Area


May 29, 2007
Several activities related to the design of the new I-95/Girard Avenue Interchange will be underway in the interchange area for several weeks beginning Tuesday, May 29, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said today.

Crews will be taking subsurface soil samples (core borings) in the vicinity of the ramp from Girard Avenue to Aramingo Avenue and at other locations nearby. Drilling rigs will be used for this operation. Core borings, which help determine subsurface conditions, allow engineers to design the proper foundations bridges, ramps and other structures.

Also in the interchange area, environmental scientists will be conducting various routine tests related to the design of the new interchange.

All work will take place on public rights-of-way and will not require access to private property.

Depending on the weather, the current activities are expected to be completed by the end of June.

PennDOT is currently conducting Final Design activities for the five separate contracts which comprise the overall project to rebuild the interchange and reconstruct and widen the pavement and bridges on adjacent section of I-95.

The first contract is expected to be under construction in 2008.

Status Report - Spring 2007

Final Design Continuing

PennDOT is continuing Final Design activities for the new Girard Avenue Interchange following Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval last fall (2006) of the project's environmental document. Final Design is the last stage of engineering leading to construction of the new interchange and reconstruction of three miles of I-95.

Work could begin in 2009 on the first of five contracts that make up the overall $350 million project.

The approved environmental document, a Categorical Exclusion Evaluation (CEE), summarizes more than three years of various environmental studies of the project area. It also includes commitments to mitigate noise increases and impacts on local recreational, historical and cultural resources that result from construction. Those studies are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and must be completed, reviewed and approved prior to the development of final construction plans.

Agencies involved along with PennDOT and FHWA in the CEE review and coordination process included

• City of Philadelphia Planning Commission and Departments of Streets and Recreation
• PA Department of Environmental Protection
• PA Game Commission
• PA Fish & Boat Commission
• U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
• PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
• PA Historical and Museum Commission.

Numerous community groups, including the Fishtown Neighbors Association, East Girard Merchants Association, New Kensington Community Development Corporation, Port Richmond Business Association and Richmond Street Business Owners, also were involved in the fact-gathering and review process of CEE component studies.

Final Design engineering for the overall project will take up to three years to complete. The proposed improvements, which will be broken into five smaller and more manageable construction contracts, or stages, are expected to then take up to five years to build.

The Girard Avenue Interchange, Exit 23, is located between the Vine Street Interchange to the south and the Allegheny Avenue Interchange to the north. Specifically, the project limits along I-95 extend from Race Street to 1,500 feet north of Ann Street.

The project involves

• Reconstructing the Girard Avenue Interchange
• Eliminating lane drops by widening I-95 from three (3) lanes to four (4) lanes through the interchange in each direction
• Widening and reconstruction of 3 miles of pavement and 17 structures along I-95
• Improving access between I-95 ramps and the local street system
• Improving highway signing, lighting and drainage
• Installation of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components

Today upwards of 173,000 vehicles per day -- volumes substantially higher than the highway?s original design capacity -- use this stretch of I-95, resulting in frequent congestion on the interstate. The existing interchange configuration also constricts access to and from numerous surface roads and increases traffic on streets designed to serve the surrounding residential communities.

(Rev. 3/2/07)