PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Josh Shapiro said Saturday that I-95 will be reopened within the next two weeks.
“I can state with confidence we will have I-95 open within the next two weeks,” Shapiro said during a news conference at Atlantic Aviation Airport after he took a helicopter tour of the I-95 collapse site in Northeast Philadelphia with President Joe Biden and other elected officials.
Biden said the federal government will pay for the emergency work to reopen the highway. He said rebuilding I-95 is the most important infrastructure project in the country right now.
“It’s critical. It’s critical to our economy, it’s critical to our quality of life. We’re going to continue to do everything we can within our power to get this back open as quickly as easily as possible,” Biden said.
Shapiro told the president that Philadelphians are even watching the livestream of the highway reconstruction at Xfinity Live.
“Folks here in Philly have a real renewed sense of civic pride,” Shapiro said.
Biden inspected I-95 reconstruction by air rather than on the ground to allow workers continue their important repairs without interruption, according to Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building Trades Council.
“Even the president won’t stop this work,” Boyer said ahead of his visit Saturday morning. “He’s going to inspect the work from a different vantage point but not go there. We really prioritize the work over everything. "
Work is underway to temporarily reconstruct the I-95 bridge that collapsed June 11 in Northeast Philadelphia. Biden’s held a news conference at the airport rather than at the site to prevent obstructing the work on the road or clogging traffic. Instead, he assessed the road from a helicopter and then receive a briefing at an airport hangar near Philadelphia International Airport.
“The president normally would come in and visit the site and shut it down for a couple of hours, but every minute of the day we’ll be working,” Boyer said.
