Uh When Is I-95/I-276 Going To Actually Get Started? (Penn: buy, construction)

[Thruway]

This projected was supposed to begin last year, it was postponed until midway through 2009.

Has it started yet?
If not why and when will it?
You would think with the stimulus and planning given this would be underway.

PA Turnpike / I-95 Interchange Project

[LibraGirl123]

There's a pretty comprehensive article on Wikipedia that says "construction is expected to start in late 2009":

Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ohiogirl81]

I'm guessing it'll start around the same time that we can buy a six-pack and a bottle of wine at the grocery store.

[Thruway]

So nobody knows when?

[LibraGirl123]

Originally Posted by Thruway

So nobody knows when?

How would we know? We don't work for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission...or PennDOT...or any of the other organizations involved (well, at least I don't). Why don't you go back to the link in your OP and get on their mailing list. I don't know what else to tell you.

[Gerania]

I drove through though there last week. I didn't see any construction or big machines...nothing.

[CHIP72]

Transportation projects almost always need to complete pre-construct work (engineering, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation) before construction can start. The I-95/PA Turnpike interchange project may be still in the pre-construct phases.

Most transportation projects require a combination of federal money and state money. The federal money hasn't been a problem recently, but the state money has. If the state of Pennsylvania is tight on transportation funds (which they are, along with most other states), that can delay a project.

You can probably find documentation about the project schedule by looking at DVRPC's website and searching for the 2009 or 2011 Transportation Improvement Program. If you can't find it there, you might be able to find it on PennDOT's website (again search for Transportation Improvement Program).

[CHIP72]

Here - as of the STIP update on 5/1/09, the project was in final design engineering in federal FY 2009 for about $6.13 million. Look on page 49 of 268:

ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/STIP.pdf (broken link)

FWIW, federal FY 2009 ended on September 30, 2009.

I'd guess with a project as big as this one that probably required additional land, PennDOT/PTC went through the right-of-way acquisition before they did final design engineering.

The fact the project's later phases aren't listed to me means either A) PennDOT doesn't have construct funding identified/allocated to the project right now due to funding shortfalls or B) the PA Turnpike Commission is paying for construction (and PTC projects usually aren't listed on the STIP, though this one should be because federal funding would have been used on the overall project). The fact the STIP shown on PennDOT's website is from May also means work phase timing may have been modified since then. It is also possible the project has received federal Recovery Act funding since then too. If the project received federal funding of some sort, it needs to be listed on the STIP.

If the project is on the schedule mentioned by people above, it could start construction in the next couple of months. However, PennDOT/PTC may want to wait until spring 2010 to start construction - it is hard to construct roadways when you have freeze/thaw cycles and the potential for snowstorms.