I-95 rebuild: Union workers, families celebrated by state, city officials
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia city leaders gathered Sunday with union workers for a celebration honoring the construction crews who worked around the clock to get the I-95 temporary highway rebuilt and to say "Thank You" for a job well done.
To a rowdy crowd of union workers, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro put an end cap to a miraculous two weeks that resulted in I-95 reopening before anybody could ever have expected.
"I got the baddest team in the City of Philadelphia," Rob Buckley stated.
At a venue that is fit to celebrate champions on the field, a different kind of hero was celebrated Sunday.
"I am so damn proud to be your governor!" Shapiro exclaimed.
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Governor Shapiro, along with Mayor Kenney and officials from PennDOT, took the opportunity Sunday to not just give thanks to the workers who helped reopen I-95 in record time, but to give back to them.
"He didn’t leave that sight, neither did Mike Carroll and neither did all of you who were doing 12-hour shifts to make sure region and the nation got moving again," Gov. Shapiro remarked.
The day started with workers being honored before the first pitch at the Phillies game.
Marloy Gonzalez is with Local 57 and was involved every step of the way these past two weeks. He says seeing the recognition of the work means the world.
"Just a lot of love. I was on the field today with the governor and everything else. It’s just been crazy, these last couple of days," Gonzalez said.
Through the pomp and circumstance that followed what officials call an amazing accomplishment, the governor said he has not lost sight of the tragic passing of Nathan Moody. "We lost a life and remember that life and mourn that life."
The governor said the job was finished because of how much the city was pulling for each person involved. "That was not nothing. That mattered. These workers felt the community pulling for them."