“We are going to leverage every single asset we have to get this done,” was one of the many remarks Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said during the Wednesday afternoon press conference about rebuilding I-95.
Governor Shapiro announced the first step in the reconstruction plan would begin tomorrow, June 15, when Pennsylvania State Police will be escorting trucks filled with specially designed Pennsylvania-made recycled glass aggregate from Delaware County to make sure those materials get to Philadelphia as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“That’s the fill they’re gonna use to basically build up the ground to the surface level of I-95 so then they can lay the pavement,” Shapiro explained.
“Once complete, cars and trucks can return to this stretch of I-95 and then we will work together to build a permanent bridge while making sure we keep six lanes of traffic open at all times,” Shapiro explained.
“We cut through the red tape, we developed a creative plan, and we are executing.” said Shapiro after declaring that “all hands on deck” would be the only way I-95 could be quickly and safely rebuilt and reopened.
Doing the rebuilding will be Philadelphia-based contracting company Buckley & Co Inc.
As an effort to stay transparent, Shapiro also announced a new 24/7 live feed where the public and all interested parties can watch the reconstruction of I-95 in real-time. “The live feed will be set up and be operational this week”, Shapiro said.
“We are not wasting a single second” stated Shapiro while being unable to give an exact estimate on how long the reconstruction would take.
Throughout the press conference, other speakers were Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, U.S. Department of Transportation, Undersecretary Carlos Monje, and Business Manager of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council Ryan Boyer.
