Highway To Hell, Con't

President Biden's infrastructure bill set aside billions for highway and bridge repair, but those repairs are going to take years, and some highways need the money, you know, yesterday.

 

Repairs on Interstate 95 are expected to take "months" after an elevated section collapsed in Philadelphia on Sunday morning when a tanker truck carrying flammable cargo caught fire beneath the overpass, officials said.

"With regards to the complete rebuild of I-95 roadway, we expect it to take some number of months," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told a press conference on Sunday evening, adding that he plans to issue a disaster declaration to "expedite this process" and "immediately draw down federal funds."

Shapiro said he had spoken directly to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg who assured him there would be "absolutely no delay" in getting federal funds to safely and swiftly rebuild the "critical roadway."

In the meantime, officials are looking at "interim solutions to connect both sides of I-95 to get traffic through the area," according to Shapiro. All lanes between the exits for Philadelphia's Woodhaven Road and Aramingo Avenue are closed in both directions indefinitely, local ABC station WPVI reported.

The northbound side of the affected segment "completely collapsed," while the southbound lanes are "not structurally sound to carry any traffic," Shapiro said. One vehicle remains trapped beneath the collapsed roadway, according to the governor.


"We are still working to identify any individual or individuals who may have been caught in the fire and the collapse," he said, before later clarifying that no one on I-95 at the time was injured or killed in the incident.

Inspectors from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation determined that the southbound portion cannot be reopened and will also need to be replaced, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report reviewed by ABC News on Monday.

 

Taxpayers sure hate gas taxes and highway repairs, right up until said highway collapses and screws up traffic for three months at a time. Ask your friends in Cincy about the Brent Spence Bridge sometime.