Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said Saturday that the collapsed portion of the I-95 interstate in Philadelphia will be reopened in the next two weeks.
Shapiro stated "with confidence" during a press briefing that the project would be finished in the next 14 days. He added that Philadelphia would soon "get traffic moving again thanks to the extraordinary work that is going on here by these union trade workers."
The collapse occurred on June 11 after a tanker truck caught fire underneath an elevated section of the interstate. The tanker was carrying around 8,500 gallons of gasoline, USA Today reported, and the heat caused a portion of the interstate to crumble.
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The I-95 is a major artery for the Northeast, with an estimated 160,000 vehicles a day traveling on the road every day, according to WUSA-TV. However, Shapiro remained optimistic about the timeline, and USA Today reported that the interstate is being reconstructed using 2,000 tons of glass to fill in the collapsed section.
Shapiro was joined by President Biden, who was in Philadelphia for a campaign rally. The two men took a helicopter tour of the collapse site, and Biden pledged the necessary aid to help get the I-95 reopened. Making remarks alongside Shapiro, Biden said there was "no more important project right now in the country, as far as I'm concerned," per a White House readout. The president added that he was "directing my team...to move heaven and earth to get it done as soon as humanly possible."
Biden said that the federal government would reimburse 100% of the repair cost within the first 200 days, followed by 90% after that. The I-95 collapse has shed a continuing light on the dilapidated state of much of America's infrastructure, something that Biden has tried to address with a $1.2 trillion funding bill.
