Governor Shapiro Surprises Pennsylvania With Big Announcement

Governor Josh Shapiro announced the re-opening of the I-95 highway within two weeks...

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently accompanied President Biden on an aerial tour of the I-95 construction site and briefed him on the response to reopen the highway safely in the near future. In addition, Governor Shapiro stated that I-95 will reopen within the next two weeks.

“I can state with confidence that we will have I-95 reopened within the next two weeks,” said Governor Josh Shapiro at the briefing with President Biden. “We are going to get traffic moving again thanks to the extraordinary work of those here and our incredible union trade workers.”

Following the aerial tour, Governor Shapiro and key members of his cabinet - PEMA Director Padfield, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Chris Paris, and Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll - briefed President Biden on the initial response, the reconstruction plan, and the ongoing coordination among all levels of government. Governor Shapiro also announced that the damaged bridge and roadway had been demolished in four days, well ahead of schedule and well ahead of some experts' predictions of more than a week.

According to an official press release, members of the Philadelphia Building Trades have begun pouring the foamed glass aggregate into the gap in the roadway, building it up to the surface level of I-95 for Philadelphia-based contractor Buckley & Company. They will reportedly continue to work around the clock through the holiday weekend to reopen the I-95 highway as soon as possible.

"There’s no more important project right now in the country, as far as I’m concerned," said President Biden. "I’m directing my team — not figuratively, but literally — to move heaven and earth to get it done as soon as humanly possible."

"To the people of Philadelphia, I want to say that we’re with you," President Biden said. "We’re going to stay with you and — as this is rebuilt — until it’s totally finished. And we’re going to try to do that in as quick a time as possible."

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