Construction Update: Fall 2020

Reconstruction Shifts to Southbound Left Lane

Fall 2020 – Rehabilitation and reconstruction of the center section of the U.S. 1/Roosevelt Expressway viaduct over SEPTA and the Nicetown neighborhood finished in early November and progressed to the next stage this fall that splits southbound traffic through the work zone for rehabilitation and re-decking of the southbound left lane.

Work on this project is being done in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and state Department of Health guidance as well as a project-specific COVID-19 safety plan, which will include protocols for social distancing, use of face coverings, personal and job-site cleaning protocols, management of entries to the jobsite, special signing, and relevant training.

Following implementation of the new traffic pattern, crews will systematically repair, repaint, and re-deck the viaduct’s southbound left lane over the next six months before moving on to the southbound viaduct’s right lane in mid-2021.

Work on the top side is proceeding in tandem with painters on the underside of the viaduct who have removed the existing paint from the entire structure and are placing a primer coat on the refurbished steel members. A finish coating will be applied to the entire underside of the structure during the final stage of the project.

Dozens of concrete columns that support the half-mile long structure that carries traffic over Germantown Avenue, Wayne Avenue and other streets in the Nicetown neighborhood have been refurbished.

In addition to the viaduct, painting of the structural steel on the Fox Street bridge over the expressway south of the viaduct has finished. A water main carried under or adjacent to the overpass remains to be relocated prior to repairs to the bridge being completed.

The Cayuga Street on-ramp to southbound U.S. 1/Roosevelt Expressway remains closed. It was closed and detoured earlier in 2019 to allow two lanes of southbound traffic to move through the work area uninterrupted by the merge of on-ramp traffic during repairs to the viaduct.

Current construction is Stage 2 of six stages of repairs being completed under a $90 million contract to rehabilitate the 2,587-foot long viaduct. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2023.