PHILADELPHIA, PA — Overnight closures on westbound Interstate 76 at 30th Street are set to resume next week as PennDOT restarts overhead bridge construction that was paused for weeks due to winter weather.
PennDOT said work on the westbound Schuylkill Expressway in Center City Philadelphia is tentatively scheduled to resume Monday, February 9, and continue for several months as part of a $148.9 million project to rehabilitate bridges carrying Market Street over Amtrak, I-76, the Schuylkill River Trail, and CSX Railroad.
Beginning February 9 and running through Monday, June 1, westbound I-76 will be reduced to one lane between the 30th Street and Interstate 676 interchanges from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Sundays through Thursdays. From 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM the following morning, the expressway will be fully closed and detoured between those interchanges.
During overnight closures, motorists will be directed to exit at 30th Street and travel west on Schuylkill Avenue to access the ramps to I-76 West and I-676 East. PennDOT warned that significant backups and delays should be expected while the work is underway. All activities remain weather dependent.
The bridge improvement project includes partial demolition and replacement of the superstructure on the Market Street bridge over Amtrak and I-76, replacement of deteriorated decks and sidewalks on adjacent bridges, and construction of a new single-span bridge over the Schuylkill River Trail and CSX Railroad. Crews will also reconfigure Market Street pavement from Schuylkill Avenue West to 23rd Street to better accommodate vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Planned upgrades include wider sidewalks, turning lanes, a protected two-way bicycle lane with concrete separators, new bicycle signals, Intelligent Transportation Systems improvements, and upgraded highway, bridge, and navigation lighting. Additional work will repair river walls along the Schuylkill, address settlement on pedestrian stairways, preserve the Walnut Street Bridge, and add a parking-separated bicycle lane along Walnut Street between 33rd and 22nd streets.
With months of overnight closures returning to one of the region’s most heavily traveled corridors, drivers are urged to plan ahead and monitor conditions closely. For real-time traffic updates, detour information, and lane closure alerts across Philadelphia and the surrounding region, readers are strongly encouraged to visit the MyChesCo Traffic Center before traveling.
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