Interstate 95 in Pennsylvania

Route information
Length	51.08 mi (82.21 km)
Major junctions
Major intersections	I-476 in Chester I-76 in Philadelphia I-676/US 30 in Philadelphia
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 94 → PA 95

Interstate 95 in the state of Pennsylvania, officially known as the Delaware Expressway and locally known as "95," runs for 51 miles from the Delaware state line near Marcus Hook to the New Jersey state line crossing the Delaware River near Yardley. It parallels its namesake Delaware River for its entire route through the city of Philadelphia and its suburbs. It is a major route through the city and the metropolitan Delaware Valley, providing access to locally important landmarks such as Philadelphia International Airport, the Philadelphia Sports Complex, Penn's Landing, and Franklin Mills.

The road is among the busiest in the state, second only to the Schuylkill Expressway. An estimated 169,000 motorists utilize the road daily.

Route description

I-95 southwest of Philadelphia

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Wilmington
Linwood
Chester
Ridley Park
Philadelphia
Andalusia
Trenton

Interstate 95 enters Pennsylvania from Delaware near Marcus Hook, just north of its junction with the northern end of Interstate 495. It runs through the city of Chester, interchanging with the southern end of Interstate 476 at the edge of the city. It continues in an eastward direction paralleling Pennsylvania Route 291 through the suburbs of Essington and Tinicum, to a large interchange with PA 291 and Philadelphia International Airport. East of the airport, I-95 crosses the Schuylkill River on the double-decker Girard Point Bridge.

East of the river, I-95 continues east into South Philadelphia as an elevated freeway, passing south of the Philadelphia Sports Complex and north of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard. The road then curves north, following the bend in the Delaware River, and runs along the waterfront interchanging with Interstate 76 and the Walt Whitman Bridge. The elevated roadway gradually lowers to a depressed level approaching Center City, where it passes through several short tunnels at Penn's Landing, passes under the Ben Franklin Bridge, and interchanges with the Vine Street Expressway (Interstate 676). North of Center City, the SEPTA Market-Frankford Line rises up from the Market Street subway into I-95's median as the highway returns to an elevated alignment, entering one station (Spring Garden) before diverging once more. I-95 continues through Northeast Philadelphia, interchanging with the Betsy Ross Bridge, Pennsylvania Route 73 at the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, and the Woodhaven Road expressway (Pennsylvania Route 63) before crossing the county line into Bucks County.

North of the city, I-95 interchanges with a short expressway stub to Pennsylvania Route 413, a remnant of the unbuilt Interstate 895. It continues north past the future site of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project, where it currently passes under Interstate 276 without access between the two highways. North of I-276, I-95 interchanges with U.S. Route 1, and crosses the Delaware River into New Jersey on the Scudders Falls Bridge.

History

Plans for a limited-access highway along the Delaware River originated in 1932, as part of a proposed cars-only parkway system for the Philadelphia area similar to the contemporary system being built in New York City. However, planning for the proposed parkway system stalled and the plan was eventually abandoned. In 1937, plans for the highway were revived as the "Delaware Skyway", a planned elevated highway along the waterfront similar in design to the West Side Highway in New York, though these plans were also scrapped due to concerns that the supports would hinder access to port operations on the waterfront.

I-95 north of the Interstate 476 interchange

In 1945, the city approved the current routing as the Delaware Expressway, envisioned to link all the industrial areas along the river with the Industrial Highway and the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge to New Jersey. The planned highway was incorporated into the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, and was planned to be built as a toll road. However, with the advent of the Interstate Highway System in 1956, the project was turned over to the Pennsylvania Department of Highways and incorporated into Interstate 95. Construction on the road commenced in 1959.

Original plans called for the expressway to follow the U.S. Route 13 corridor to the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge, where I-95 would continue north along today's Trenton Freeway. However, due to limited capacity of the highway through Trenton, planners instead opted to build a new alignment bypassing Trenton to the west, incorporating the existing Scudder Falls Bridge.

Controversy erupted in the early 1960s over the planned eight-lane elevated segment of the highway along the Center City waterfront; residents of the upscale Society Hill neighborhood objected to the highway on the grounds that it would cut off the neighborhood from the river. State highway officials reached a compromise by opting for an alternative depressed design with an overhead concrete deck connecting Center City to a planned redeveloped waterfront today known as Penn's Landing. By 1979, the entire length of the expressway was open to traffic with the exception of a four-mile segment near Philadelphia International Airport.

Completion of the final section of the highway faced considerable difficulty, as the road was to be built on a layer of clay separating the city's water supply from the output of its sewage treatment plant. Matters were complicated by a two-year suspension of federal highway funding while the state failed to implement a federally mandated emissions testing program. This final segment was opened to traffic in 1985, marking the completion of the 35-year project.

Future

Further information: Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project

A project is currently underway to build an interchange between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 276) where the two highways cross but do not currently interchange with each other. Following the completion of the project, the Pennsylvania Turnpike east of the interchange will be redesignated I-95 to connect with the New Jersey Turnpike portion of the route, while the current I-95 north of the interchange will become part of an extended Interstate 195.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Delaware - Pennsylvania state line I-95 continues into Delaware.
Delaware	Boothwyn	1.16	1	Chichester Avenue
	Linwood	1.72	2	PA 452 - Marcus Hook
	Chester	2.63	3	Highland Avenue - Chester	Exit 3B southbound.
		2.85	3A	US 322 west - West Chester	Southbound exit, northbound entrance.
		I-95/ US 322 are concurrent for 0.8 miles.
		3.62	4	US 322 east - New Jersey
		4.50	5	Kerlin Street	Northbound exit only.
		5.62	6	To PA 320/ ToPA 352
		6.64	7	I-476 north - Plymouth Meeting	Southern terminus of I-476.
	Ridley Park	7.78	8	Ridley Park
	Tinicum Township	8.91	9A	PA 420 south - Essington	Full cloverleaf interchange.
		9.09	9B	PA 420 north - Prospect Park
		10.25	10	PA 291 east - Cargo City	Northbound exit only.
Philadelphia	Philadelphia	12.17	12	PHL - To PA 291
		13.14	13	PA 291 west/To I-76 west - Valley Forge	Northbound exit, southbound entrance.
		13.71	14	Essington Avenue, Bartram Avenue	Southbound exit.
		14.56	15	Enterprise Avenue, Island Avenue	Southbound exit only.
		16.74	17	PA 611 (Broad Street) north - Pattison Avenue, Sports Complex	Southern terminus of PA 611.
		18.51	19	I-76 east - Walt Whitman Bridge
		20.43	20	Columbus Boulevard, Washington Avenue	Southbound: left-hand exit.
		21.89	22	I-676/US 30 - Central Philadelphia, Independence Hall
		23.38	23	Girard Avenue, Lehigh Avenue
		24.87	25	Allegheny Avenue, Castor Avenue
		26.15	26	File:New Jersey 90.svg NJ 90 via Betsy Ross Bridge - Aramingo Avenue
		27.18	27	Bridge Street, Harbison Avenue
		29.80	30	PA 73 (Cottman Avenue) - Rhawn Street
		32.06	32	Academy Road, Linden Avenue
Bucks	Andalusia	34.66	35	PA 63 west	Eastern terminus of PA 63.
	Eddington	36.35	37	PA 132 (Street Road) west/To US 13
	Bristol Township	39.48	40	PA 413 - Bristol
		40.65		I-276/Pennsylvania Turnpike west	Future interchange with the PA Turnpike.
	Penndel	43.31	44	US 1 BUS/PA 413 - Levittown, Penndel
	Middletown Township	45.43	46A	US 1 north - Morrisville	Full cloverleaf interchange.
		45.71	46B	US 1 south -Langhorne
	Lower Makefield Township	48.49	49	PA 332 - Newtown, Yardley
		50.75	51	New Hope, Yardley	Splits into 51A and 51B southbound.
New Jersey - Pennsylvania state line I-95 continues into New Jersey on the Scudder Falls Bridge.

External links

• The Roads of Metro Philadelphia: Delaware Expressway (I-95)
• Pennsylvania Highways: Interstate 95