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NE Philly residents express concern with speed of I-95 reopening
After a crash that collapsed a portion of I-95 in Northeast Philly nearly two weeks ago, the reconstructed highway is set to reopen temporary lanes Friday.
NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - Officials said it would take months, then weeks. But, in reality, cars, trucks and commerce will move again along the busiest highway corridor on the east coast Friday at noon, as three northbound and three southbound lanes open.
"We’re going to have a 45 mile per hour speed limit. We are going to have three 11-foot lanes, but there will be no shoulders in that area," Michael Carroll, Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, explained.
The highway, now sitting on 10,000 tons of glass aggregate and 12 inches of asphalt, was finished off by a giant NASCAR jet drier brought in from Pocono Raceway.
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"The walls were on fire. You couldn’t walk anywhere. It was crazy," Milly Houston described the aftermath of the crash.
Houston was driving behind the gas tanker when it exploded June 11th. After seeing the damage left behind, she’s shocked to see the highway open Friday. "Actually really surprised, because it was really damaged. But, I hope they know what they are doing."
The blistering fast speed of construction has many drivers glad that it’s reopening, though some drivers have reservations about using the reconstructed section.
"I’m not taking it. I don’t trust it. Nobody should trust it," Tacony resident Shawntel Hall said.
Holmesburg resident Kim Elwell added, "They took two weeks to do that. I don’t know. I don’t trust it. I’ll wait for everybody else to go first."