Welcome changes coming to the Blue Route in effort to ease congestion

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. - Traffic may soon move a little smoother along one of the areas most congested highways. Big changes are coming to the Blue Route and PennDOT says the goal is to make the highway safer.

"It’s horrible. It’s absolutely a nightmare," said motorcyclist Mike Torelli from Newtown Square.

Driving on a congested Interstate 476 might as well be a Delaware County rite of passage.

"Oh god chaotic. It’s awful," said commuter Jesse Muir.

The Blue Route, officially the Mid-County Expressway, was planned back in 1960 and completed in 1991. But after decades of growth, even PennDot admits the highway is a bit out of date. The road carries an average 70,000 travelers a day and has become a long source of headaches for commuters.

"We’ve outgrown it, to put it bluntly," said PennDot spokesperson Brad Rudolph. He says the state already started work on the first phase of a multi-year "Active Traffic Management" project to upgrade the Blue Route.

Crews have already started the installation of variable speed limit signs that will change depending on traffic and weather conditions.

Adaptive ramp metering will be used to dynamically adjust signals at the ramp entrances to proactively manage vehicle flow from on ramps.

PennDOT will construct the necessary conduits, queue detectors, dynamic message signs, and the technological systems necessary to operate the system from PennDOT's new Regional Transportation Management Center.

The project also calls for the construction of emergency pull off areas to provide better access for stranded drivers and emergency responders.

"We hope it will take some of the pressure off main line 476. It will move traffic a little more freer. It will also take the pressure off some of the parallel arterials," said Rudolph.

One of the biggest changes will come in the second phase of the project, slated for 2027, on a 14-mile stretch between I-95 and West Chester Pike. The inner shoulders of each direction will be utilized as "flexible lanes" during peak traffic times, adding an entire lane of traffic when needed.

"It would be a left lane shoulder, but during demand, you would have these overhead lane assignments, these gantries, much like you see on the Walt Whitman or Bridge Betsy Ross Bridge where you can control when the lane is in use," added Rudolph.

The changes won’t be completed until 2029. Not soon enough for many commuters. Muir, who works at a Main Line medical office, says she avoids traveling the Blue Route at all costs. But she may have second thoughts if major improvements are made.

"Definitely. Especially if they added a third lane onto a lot of the sections I would. 100 percent," she said.

PennDOT says it’s planning a similar upgrade to I-76 to include flexible shoulder lanes. That project is scheduled for 2027.