KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Drivers, start planning alternate routes now. PennDOT plans to close northbound I-95 at Columbus Boulevard for an entire weekend next month.
The weekend closure, starting Feb. 3, will allow crews to continue the demolition of the Walnut Street and Chestnut Street bridges over the northbound lanes of I-95 as they expand the cap over the interstate and eventually build a 12-acre park on top.
All northbound lanes of the interstate are closing at Columbus Boulevard from 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 until 5 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 5. In the event of extreme rain or snow, PennDOT is looking at Presidents' Day weekend — Feb. 17 to Feb. 19 — as a possible alternate weekend.
PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph says northbound drivers can choose to take the Blue Route to Route 1, or even cross into New Jersey.
Westbound drivers on the Walt Whitman Bridge will be directed to use the westbound Schuylkill Expressway and the Vine Street Expressway to get to northbound I-95.
"There is no quick way around the closure,” says PennDOT representative Brad Rudolph.
“The backups are going to be significant on all of these alternate routes, especially the local routes that use Columbus Boulevard, Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street to accommodate the extra traffic.”
Rudolph says this is something that drivers are really going to have to plan for: “We do encourage drivers to use their map provider of choice to select the best alternative route for their travel plans."
Rudolph says the 35-hour closure will speed up the demolition job.
“The weekend closures will allow PennDOT and its contractors to accelerate the demo process by several months, over having to implement nighttime closures and restoring the interstate to traffic each morning.”
As work on the $329 million CAP (Central Access Philadelphia) Project over I-95 continues, PennDOT plans another weekend northbound closure and two southbound closures in the coming months. Those dates have not yet been decided.