Bridge collapse closes Interstate 95

June 12, 2023

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As of Monday morning, it was unclear when Interstate 95 would reopen after a partial bridge collapse forced its closure on Sunday.

At approximately 6:20 a.m. Eastern on Sunday morning, June 11, a truck carrying a petroleum-based product caught fire under I-95 near the Cottman Avenue exit and caused a portion of the highway to collapse, according to Pennsylvania State Police as well as first responders.

Other local and national reports also indicated a truck fire led to the damage and subsequent closure of the highway. However, an official investigation into the incident is yet to be completed.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said a more exact timeline for “the complete rebuilding” of I-95 should be available in the coming days after engineers complete their review.

Early this AM a vehicle fire under I-95 in Philly caused part of the highway to collapse.

While this is still an active scene, I completed an aerial view of the site and was briefed by first responders, law enforcement and transportation experts on the ground with @PhillyMayor. pic.twitter.com/g4rHy5NTMM

— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) June 11, 2023

This interstate highway is the busiest commuter route in Philadelphia, seeing approximately 160,000 vehicles per day.

It’s likely a disaster declaration would be issued, while PennDOT has created an I-95 incident updates website.

The PennDOT I-95 updates page includes the following detours:

I-95 southbound: Route 63 west, U.S. 1 south, 76 east, 676 east.
I-95 northbound: I-676 west, I-76 west, U.S. 1 north to Route 63 east.

(Local detours)

I-95 northbound: Exit 26, Tacony Street, New State Road, Milnor Street, Bleigh Avenue and Linden Avenue to access I-95.
I-95 southbound: Cottman Avenue exit, Bleigh Avenue and State Road to access southbound I-95 at Longshore Avenue.

Gov. Shapiro, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and other local officials provided a briefing on Sunday.

“Interstate 95 is a critical artery that supports our economy and plays an important role in Pennsylvanians’ day-to-day lives,” Shapiro said. “My administration is all hands on deck to repair this safely and as efficiently as possible. We will rebuild and recover, and in the meantime, we will make sure people can get to where they need to go safely.”

The city of Philadelphia is also updating the public via its blog page. LL