11 PM update
This is going to be a nightmare
This is going to be a nightmare
SEPTA definitely. I am not sure what part of the typical traffic that ran on that segment of I-95 would use Amtrak from where to where.A major disruption for commuters and car travelers in Philadelphia after a tanker fire caused part of the northbound lanes to collapse and damaged the southbound lanes.
Here is a report from the Inquirer (in Philly that's pronounced "Inkwire" )
https://www.inquirer.com/news/live/i-95-philadelphia-bridge-fire-collapse-traffic-20230611.html
I figure this should have a positive effect on SEPTA and Amtrak patronage as travelers seek alternatives, as there aren't great highway alternatives.
A look at the aerial footage might reveal one partial northbound solution. The highway department might be able to combine the northbound exit and entrance ramps to the east of the bridge to give 2 lanes northbound bypass. Someone who knows the elevations of those 2 ramps will know if possible? However, that would interfere with the repair work.
An engineering problem will be the vertical support walls of the bridge. It will take a detailed survey to determine if the concrete retained it strength or if it will require reinforcement.
Alan had a good short video about this:
True. And Philadelphia is pronounced "Fluffya."Here is a report from the Inquirer (in Philly that's pronounced "Inkwire" )
Alan had a good short video about this:
It will take a few days of massive traffic jams before people will try and switch modes. You hope everyone else has switch so you can just drive yourself to work, and do not have to learn or adjust to a transit system. Unless your system is ever 2 minutes and free to use. There a learning curve.Larry Higgs, who writes about transit issues in New Jersey, has an excellent article about the I-95 bridge collapse and the closing of the highway. NJT, SEPTA and PATCO (Port Authority Transit Corporation) all have extra trains but there doesn't seem to be many people riding them. At the same time the picture at the top of his report says it all and he advises people to avoid driving in the area it that is at all possible. There are massive traffic jams in the whole area.
In my experience in NJ it seems that the decision making criteria shifting from driving to transit is driven primarily by whether the travel time including the traffic jam is significantly longer than what can be achieved by shifting to transit, and that is for door to door (err... parking lot to parking lot in a manner of speaking). Unfortunately NJT is not really set up to be terribly time efficient for NJ to NJ trips, unless you are fortunate enough to have origin and destination on the same transit route, in which case you are probably using it anyway. So often it is actually shorter time wise to just suffer through the traffic jam, or find alternate back road routes, than try to run the NJT gauntlet, which is unfortunate, but that is transit swings in one of the densest populated states.It will take a few days of massive traffic jams before people will try and switch modes. You hope everyone else has switch so you can just drive yourself to work, and do not have to learn or adjust to a transit system. Unless your system is ever 2 minutes and free to use. There a learning curve.
When I was a kid, I lived on the Main Line, and when we went to New York, we woulkd go out to Gulph Mills, get on the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), take that to Valley Forge, then get on the PA Turnpike, and drive that east to New Jersey, where we'd get on the New Jersey Turnpike.Whenever I have driven to Philadelphia or to the Main Line suburbs, I have taken 95 rather than 295 from NYC.
That is what I would have thought one would do. But admittedly I never lived there, I just visited people/places there from NJ. Never used I-95 in PA, but often watched sitting in Amtrak trains while overtaking the traffic.When I was a kid, I lived on the Main Line, and when we went to New York, we woulkd go out to Gulph Mills, get on the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), take that to Valley Forge, then get on the PA Turnpike, and drive that east to New Jersey, where we'd get on the New Jersey Turnpike.
When we moved into Center City, we went over the Ben Frankin Bridge and took NJ 38/73 to Exit 4 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
How does the speed of PennDOT's getting to work on this problem compare to that of California getting to work on the Pacific Surfliner route that has been blocked by varioius landslides and such?PennDOT will announce reconstruction plans tomorrow (6/14). Demolition of the remaining southbound span and removal of debris started today.
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