I-95 collapse in Philadelphia: commuters stuck, rebuilding to take ‘months’

More than 100,000 Philadelphia commuters who typically take Interstate 95 to work faced a slower commute on Monday, June 12, after a portion of I-95 collapsed. A tanker truck carrying hundreds of gallons of gasoline crashed and caught fire on a ramp underneath the freeway on Sunday, June 11.

The northbound lanes of I-95 collapsed, and the southbound lanes were “compromised” by heat from the fire. It took about an hour to put out.

“We are not aware of any injuries or fatalities at this time, but we understand the situation remains fluid,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Sunday. “I am grateful to our first responders for the dangerous, lifesaving work that they do to keep residents and visitors safe. This is really where teamwork and quick thinking come into play.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., said he had been spoken directly to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and had been assured that there would be “absolutely no delay” in getting federal funds quickly to rebuild the section of the interstate.

However, Shapiro added the complete rebuild of I-95 would take “some number of months.”

“We expect it to take time and we will have that specific timeline set forth once the engineers and [the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)] have completed their review,” Shapiro said. “In response, PennDOT, the city of Philadelphia and [the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority(SEPTA)]… have created detours and are working on further alternative methods to ensure folks can safely get to where they need to go. We’re also looking at interim solutions to connect both sides of I-95 to get traffic through the area.”

SEPTA said it was operating three extra morning and late afternoon trains on its Trenton, New Jersey, line. The authority is also adding capacity to regularly scheduled lines during peak hours “to help support the city and region’s travel needs.”

“We are all going to need some extra patience in the coming days. Please work with us as we work through this, especially tomorrow morning,” SEPTA General Manager and CEO Leslie Richards said Sunday. “We ask employers to be as flexible as they can with their workforces. It’s going to take longer than normal to get to work tomorrow.”

Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Michael Carroll said the I-95 segment that collapsed in Philadelphia carries roughly 160,000 vehicles per day. He added that I-95 was likely the busiest interstate in Pennsylvania.