Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania

Interstate 95 In Pennsylvania

Interstate 95 (I-95) is an Interstate highway running from Miami, Florida north to Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the route is known by many as the Delaware Expressway, but is officially named The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. and locally known as "95". It runs 51 miles (82 km) from the Delaware state line near Marcus Hook to the New Jersey state line crossing the Delaware River near Yardley on the Scudder Falls Bridge. It parallels its namesake Delaware River for its entire route through the city of Philadelphia and its suburbs. It is a major route through the city and the metropolitan Delaware Valley, providing access to locally important landmarks such as Philadelphia International Airport, the Philadelphia Sports Complex, PPL Park, Penn's Landing, and Franklin Mills. Of the 15 states that Interstate 95 runs through, Pennsylvania is the only one that does not border the Atlantic Ocean.

Plans for a limited-access route along the Delaware River in the Philadelphia area originated in the 1930s when both a parkway and elevated highway were proposed; neither of these were built. The Delaware Expressway was approved in 1945 as a toll road that was to be part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system until the project was turned to the Pennsylvania Department of Highways in 1956, with the expressway to be included in the Interstate Highway System as part of I-95. Construction on I-95 began in 1959 and was mostly complete by 1979, with the final portion near the Philadelphia International Airport finished in 1985. The route was originally projected to run through the center of Trenton, New Jersey, but was rerouted to the Scudder Falls Bridge due to limited capacity in Trenton. In March 2008, large cracks were discovered on a bridge support column in Philadelphia, requiring a two-mile section of the route to be closed for two days. Bridges are planned to be rebuilt along the section of I-95 between Center City and Woodhaven Road (Pennsylvania Route 63) and an interchange is planned to be built with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 276) where I-95 will be rerouted to follow the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 195 will be extended along the current portion of I-95 north of the proposed interchange.