The stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia that collapsed last weekend is expected to reopen within the next two weeks, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on Saturday.
"We are going to get traffic moving again — thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our incredible union trade workers and our all hands on deck approach," Shapiro wrote on Twitter.
On June 11, a gasoline tanker that carried more than 8,000 gallons of fuel caught fire beneath an overpass — causing a section of the highway to collapse. All of the elevated northbound lanes caved in on the road below while the southbound lanes were heavily damaged. The truck driver, Nathan Moody, died in the incident. He was 53.
Since the fire, the scorched part of the highway, located in northeast Philadelphia, has been closed in both directions to make way for construction. On a typical day, that span would have seen about 160,000 vehicles pass through.
Repairs to the damaged stretch of roadway were initially expected to take months. The federal government released $3 million in emergency funds to help with the costs of rebuilding. On Saturday, after touring the wreckage, President Biden said "a lot more" federal funding will come to Pennsylvania "in the coming weeks."
I-95 is a major highway in the East Coast that stretches nearly 2,000 miles, from Maine to Florida.
