I-95 Collapse in Philadelphia sends commuters looking for alternatives

A day after an elevated section of Interstate 95 in northeast Philadelphia collapsed following a tanker truck caught fire, the weekday rush hour began Monday with fear and preparation. There were predictable problems, pointing to the summer of disruption and discontent ahead: The commuter trains were delayedfreeway entrances and exits were clogged, neighborhood streets were a mess, and commute times increased.

“It looks like more than an hour on a typical 40-minute trip,” says John Heinrich, an electrician in northeastern Philadelphia who usually takes I-95 to get to his job location in the city. “We probably hit the road about 45 minutes earlier than usual.”

The accident, which left part of the northbound side of the highway in a mess and heavily damaged a southbound portion, severed one of the nation’s busiest highway corridors. I-95 runs along the east coast from Maine to Miami. The damaged stretch in Philadelphia is used by about 160,000 vehicles daily, officials said. All these vehicles now have to find alternative routes and a normal commute is still a long way off.

Federal, state and local officials are investigating the cause of the fire and the collapse of the elevated highway section, which officials said did not cause any injuries or deaths. The National Transportation Safety Board said it sent a team to conduct a safety investigation.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference Sunday that he expected it would take “several months” to repair that section of the highway. The governor said he planned to issue a disaster declaration on Monday.

Meanwhile, Monday morning was filled with strategies, testing the diversions suggested by officials and listening to the wisdom of local traffic reporters, who spent the morning breaking down various approaches to downtown as football coaches before the big game.

“One of the problems with this piece of 95 is that there really aren’t any great, perfect alternatives,” said Matt Pellam, the morning broadcast traffic reporter for local ABC television. “I think people are going to try different options over the next few days to see which one is the least bad.”

The last day of school for students in Philadelphia’s public schools is Tuesday, so the daily grunts may ease up a bit after that. On the more gloomy side, a series of rain showers, some potentially severe, were predicted to move into the area in time for the afternoon rush hour.

Commuters learned on Monday what to expect in the coming months.

Some found that the frenzy of preparation had apparently paid off, with commutes that, against all odds, were easier than usual.

“I don’t know the last time I got out of my neighborhood that fast on a Monday,” says John Gramlich, a plumber who commutes three to four miles a day. “There was less traffic than I’m used to.”

Tom Maroon, who runs a non-profit organization and takes I-95 north in the morning, had the same experience. “The main roads in the neighborhoods seemed to have more volume, especially trucks,” he said. But as he drove north on undamaged sections of I-95, he said by phone from his car, traffic was flowing faster than usual.

But when he arrived at his office, Mr. Maroon found that many of his staff had not been so lucky. “A man said his bus drove a block in 12 minutes,” he said in a text message.