I-95 collapse: Detours, road closures creating influx of traffic in nearby neighborhoods
I-95 collapse: Detours, road closures creating influx of traffic in nearby neighborhoods
Commuters in Philadelphia are adapting to new road closures and detours in the wake of the I-95 collapse that officials say will take months to repair. Some of the re-routed traffic, however, is being funneled onto tight streets in North Philadelphia that aren't equipped to handle the influx of traffic.
PHILADELPHIA - Commuters in Philadelphia are adapting to new road closures and detours in the wake of the I-95 collapse that officials say will take months to repair.
Some of the re-routed traffic, however, is being funneled onto tight streets in North Philadelphia that aren't equipped to handle the influx of traffic.
A viewer photo given to FOX 29 News shows the aftermath of a tractor trailer coming down the tight confines of Westmoreland Street and tearing down a cable line.
The traffic chaos has caused neighbors in Bridesburg to take matters into their own hands by placing cones and caution tape on the roadway to help direct traffic.
"The people on the block here are trying to help people go the right way, because if they go all the way down towards Aramingo they may have to turn around and go towards traffic," Scott Simon said. "In order to keep them from going down that way, we have the cones which is forcing them to go the right way."
Some of the road closures, according to neighbors, have caused drivers to become lost in unfamiliar parts of town which has raised safety concerns for residents with children.
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"It’s been really crazy because the street is never this busy, you got a lot of kids that live on this street," Joe Spada said. "The people that are not from here are flying down the street, that's my main concern, it's really busy."
Traffic in Philadelphia spiraled into chaos Sunday when investigators say a tanker truck hauling thousands of gallons of gasoline overturned while trying to navigate a curve on the Cottman off-ramp. The crash caused gasoline to spill onto the roadway which quickly ignited and caused a massive fire that brought down the northbound stretch of I-95.