Philadelphia

[74/171FAN]

PennDOT announced that I-676 is currently closed between I-76 and PA 611 due to a loose barge contacting the noeth side of the Schuylkill River Bridge. Dependent on the bridge inspection, I-676 EB may reopen today, but I-676 WB will remain closed either way as the flood waters from Isaias need to recede before the barge can be removed.

[ixnay]

PennDOT announced that I-676 is currently closed between I-76 and PA 611 due to a loose barge contacting the noeth side of the Schuylkill River Bridge. Dependent on the bridge inspection, I-676 EB may reopen today, but I-676 WB will remain closed either way as the flood waters from Isaias need to recede before the barge can be removed.

KYW 1060 yesterday was reporting that the barge was part of an Army CofE dredging project.  Is the Schuylkill River "officially" navigable all the way upriver to the dam at the old waterworks?

I've also noticed the past two weekends,WB (only) I-76 between University Av. and I-676 has been closed.  Is related to the aforementioned dredging project?

ixnay

[Flyer78]

The dredging in support of the regattas that use that section of the river.

The dredging began in early June, with the goal of removing 60,000 cubic yards of sediment that has created hazards for rowers and threatened famed regattas such as the Dad Vail. In preparation, docks along Boathouse Row were removed for the first time in a century.

The Schuylkill Navy, an association of amateur rowing clubs, raised funds to help pay for the dredging to avoid having regattas canceled because of sediment buildup. Though the effort began years ago, it ran into a roadblock this spring with the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.

from https://www.inquirer.com/science/barge-hit-vine-street-expressway-676-dredging-boathouse-row-20200805.html

[jeffandnicole]

...I've also noticed the past two weekends,WB (only) I-76 between University Av. and I-676 has been closed.  Is related to the aforementioned dredging project?

ixnay

Just general repaving/road work on the Schuykill Expressway.

[Tonytone]

Speaking of 76 the BGS by the airport exit & oregon have have been updated to new shiny signs.

I didnt get a picture as that area isnt good to stop in.


iPhone

[Flyer78]

Speaking of 76 the BGS by the airport exit & oregon have have been updated to new shiny signs.

I didnt get a picture as that area isnt good to stop in.


iPhone

Different from the ones in this post? https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25649.msg2442342#msg2442342

[Tonytone]

Speaking of 76 the BGS by the airport exit & oregon have have been updated to new shiny signs.

I didnt get a picture as that area isnt good to stop in.


iPhone

Different from the ones in this post? https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25649.msg2442342#msg2442342

You know it looks like the updated one still but it looks shiny & different. & I drive the area regularly. Let me look again today.

I could be mistaken.

But yes those are the signs.


iPhone

[74/171FAN]

I-676 EB has reopened.

EDIT: And now both directions.

[ixnay]

...I've also noticed the past two weekends,WB (only) I-76 between University Av. and I-676 has been closed.  Is related to the aforementioned dredging project?

ixnay

Just general repaving/road work on the Schuykill Expressway.

It couldn't be that routine if that (long enough) stretch is being shut down whole weekends, could it?  The pavement must be REALLY bad...

ixnay

[jemacedo9]

...I've also noticed the past two weekends,WB (only) I-76 between University Av. and I-676 has been closed.  Is related to the aforementioned dredging project?

ixnay

Just general repaving/road work on the Schuykill Expressway.

It couldn't be that routine if that (long enough) stretch is being shut down whole weekends, could it?  The pavement must be REALLY bad...

ixnay

There are two projects occurring at once:

1. That section is a long viaduct - part of the Schuylkill River flows under...so the viaduct is being rehabbed (beams, piers, deck, etc), and the paving is one of the final stages of that.  IN addition, the median barrier is being repaired.
2.  The viaduct above - Schuylkill Avenue - is also being repaired as part of the Chestnut St bridge rehab.

[Tonytone]

iPhone

Philly had some solid Trolley lines before they cut them after 1974.

I saw a map showing the trolley lines in the 1800's & you could hit every block in philly from a trolley.

[Chris19001]

https://www.phila.gov/media/20190603120413/Comprehensive-Plan-1960.pdf

Pretty cool master plan by the city for building out the expressway and transit system from 60 years past.
I don't know why I never bothered to look it up before, but there it is starting on page 102 of the pdf.  (page 92 as marked)

[Dirt Roads]

Philly had some solid Trolley lines before they cut them after 1974.

Philly still had a number of trolley lines when I worked on the Market-Frankford (Blue) Line (which is not a trolley) back in the early 1990s.  There are still six trolley lines in Philadelphia, including the Girard Avenue line and the rest of which spiral out of the Market Street Green Line subway.  The Green Line subway operates similar to the Market Street subway in San Francisco, with trolley lines switching over to communications-based train control while bunching up in the tunnel.

[PHLBOS]

https://www.phila.gov/media/20190603120413/Comprehensive-Plan-1960.pdf

Pretty cool master plan by the city for building out the expressway and transit system from 60 years past.
I don't know why I never bothered to look it up before, but there it is starting on page 102 of the pdf.  (page 92 as marked)

Nice find.  The last graphic on pages 119-120 showing future land use features an early but never adopted alignment of what would be I-95 situated south of the airport (PHL).

[Chris19001]

Thanks.  I saw all sorts of nuggets in there that I never knew about. 
The spur coming off the top of the NE Expressway into Bucks County and the PATP. 
The big dogleg connecting the Roosevelt Expressway and Northeast Expressway.
The MFE/Subway or trolley extension to the airport. 
1960 was pretty much the turning point for Philly.  They were looking at 2+ million citizens living there and had the means to plan large.  As we know, things turned out differently, and the environment changed for most large projects..
A case in point, they were planning for helicopter pads all over! LOL.

[qguy]

https://www.phila.gov/media/20190603120413/Comprehensive-Plan-1960.pdf

Pretty cool master plan by the city for building out the expressway and transit system from 60 years past.
I don't know why I never bothered to look it up before, but there it is starting on page 102 of the pdf.  (page 92 as marked)

Nice find.  The last graphic on pages 119-120 showing future land use features an early but never adopted alignment of what would be I-95 situated south of the airport (PHL).

I-95's double-deck Girard Point Bridge over the Schuylkill River was actually constructed along that planned alignment. This explains the sweeping approach of the carriageways on the bridge's south side.

I remember riding in the family car over the Platt Bridge (just upriver from the Girard Point Bridge) in 1974. The current alignment of I-95 had been adopted by then but the roadway and viaduct on the south side around the airport were still over ten years away from being constructed. My father pointed out the still-disconnected bridge and expressed it as, "They built it in the wrong place."

[Henry]

Center City would've been completely destroyed with all those freeways, because the Mid-Town Loop and Crosstown Expressways surrounding the Vine Street (I-676) would be overkill. Same with Southwest Philly, where the Industrial Expressway was to parallel the Delaware (I-95).

[jeffandnicole]

https://www.phila.gov/media/20190603120413/Comprehensive-Plan-1960.pdf

Pretty cool master plan by the city for building out the expressway and transit system from 60 years past.
I don't know why I never bothered to look it up before, but there it is starting on page 102 of the pdf.  (page 92 as marked)

Nice find.  The last graphic on pages 119-120 showing future land use features an early but never adopted alignment of what would be I-95 situated south of the airport (PHL).

I-95's double-deck Girard Point Bridge over the Schuylkill River was actually constructed along that planned alignment. This explains the sweeping approach of the carriageways on the bridge's south side.

The alignment does allow the bridge the shortest path over the Schuykill River in that area. A perfectly straight alignment would've meant a bridge probably 3 times as long, with more interference with the Platt Bridge's southern end.

It's a bit less clear how 95 south/west of the airport would've tied in though...it appears a sweeping curve would have been required down there instead. Ultimately, there was really no perfect, easiest spot to build 95.  As it is, the airport is fairly landlocked.  95 towards the river would have given the airport limited ability to extend or add new runways where the current runways existed.  At least without the highway, they can build a new/extended runway into the river a bit. This idea was proposed, but was ultimately cancelled several years ago when they deemed other modifications could assist with reducing flight delays.

[PHLBOS]

It's a bit less clear how 95 south/west of the airport would've tied in though...it appears a sweeping curve would have been required down there instead. Ultimately, there was really no perfect, easiest spot to build 95.  As it is, the airport is fairly landlocked.  95 towards the river would have given the airport limited ability to extend or add new runways where the current runways existed.  At least without the highway, they can build a new/extended runway into the river a bit. This idea was proposed, but was ultimately cancelled several years ago when they deemed other modifications could assist with reducing flight delays.

Yes & no with regarding the new/extended runway. 
Yes, the plan to build an additional/4th parallel runway was dropped/suspended/cancelled; but the extension of Runway 9R-27L indeed happened.  I know such because I worked on that project for 3-1/2 years.  Such used to end at the north-south taxiway (old Taxiway S1/current Taxiway SS3) west of the Berwyn Aviation hangar.

The suspension of the additional runway coincided with a new Director of the Division of Aviation taking over as well as the American/US Airways merger.  The latter, coupled with the past mergers of Delta/Northwest, Continental/United & AirTran/Southwest reduced the overall number of flights to/from PHL.

[Chris19001]

Center City would've been completely destroyed with all those freeways, because the Mid-Town Loop and Crosstown Expressways surrounding the Vine Street (I-676) would be overkill.

I would agree.  Today's Center City would have been quite different for one distinct reason.  SouthBridge would have been a giant lift that may have come at the expense of the center city commuter tunnel.  I can't see both getting buy in from the feds in the mid 70's.
http://www.phillyroads.com/roads/crosstown/  (thanks to the author Steve Anderson)

The commuter tunnel allows two commuter systems to connect.  The Crosstown Expressway under SouthBridge allowed redundancy that would have likely destroyed/modified the neighborhoods it touched.  A light rail line going down South Street (or whatever it would be called) would have lasted as long as SEPTA wanted to run it.  There's a likely chance it would have been killed in the mid '80's or early 90's like a lot of other routes under their control for "busitution".

Personally, I would have loved the North Penn Expressway to meet up with the Tacony Expressway in one shape or form, but that is for selfish reasons.  I grew up close to 309 in the burbs, and an expressway would have allowed me to skip Lincoln Drive and the Mt Airy/Chestnut Hill drive to get back into the city.  However, my convenience would have come at the expense of a lot of homes.

[74/171FAN]

The ramp from PA 611 SB to I-95 SB will be closed for a while.

[Flyer78]

Just in time for fans to return to the Sports Complex.

[jeffandnicole]

Just in time for fans to return to the Sports Complex.

Exactly what I was thinking.  They had a lot of time to work with this and switch construction phases around, and they basically said "not our problem".

[noelbotevera]

What's covered up here on this sign? The new sign in the November 2019 views removes it; there's no landmarks that fit onto one line nearby, but the exit is located in the neighborhood of Gray's Ferry - maybe that's it?

[74/171FAN]

What's covered up here on this sign? The new sign in the November 2019 views removes it; there's no landmarks that fit onto one line nearby, but the exit is located in the neighborhood of Gray's Ferry - maybe that's it?

All of the historic GSV views show nothing below University Blvd either.