Schuylkill lane, South Street ramp closures expected to snarl Philly traffic
by Mark AbramsPHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- PennDOT is shutting down a lane of the Schuylkill Expressway for the rest of the year and closing two South Street ramps so it can finish work on a major project that's been tying up traffic for months.
PennDOT's Brad Rudolph says crews are replacing the concrete median barrier that separates the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-76 that run from South Philadelphia to Center City.
"And that will require us to implement an around-the-clock lane closure on westbound 76 between University Avenue and 30th Street," Rudolph said. "And that will run until the end of the year, while we complete reconstruction and full replacement of the concrete median barrier."
PennDOT is shutting down the Schuylkill Expressway to finish work on a major project
Rudolph said that's not the only issue westbound drivers will face.
"The 76 ramp to South Street will also close through the end of the year," Rudolph said. "The South Street on-ramp to eastbound 76 will be closed for approximately six weeks - weather dependent - while we complete median barrier construction in that area."
Rudolph said the median barrier work was supposed to have begun in August, but weather and other issues forced a delay until now.
He said that means the job won't be completed until the end of December.
"So by starting in mid-September we're pushing it back to the end of the year and hopefully we get good weather to complete a lot of this work," Rudolph said.
Rudolph said drivers are advised to look for alternate routes.
"You know in a single-lane pattern during peak travel times, it's certainly going to back up traffic," he said. "So we're asking you to avoid that area if you're going westbound and you're as far back as New Jersey to obviously take the Ben Franklin Bridge and route yourself out to 676 to hop on to 76 west."