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Structural damage closes Roosevelt Expressway ramp to I-76 West

Drivers are being detoured to I-76 East and Montgomery Drive to access the westbound lanes.

Traffic moves on the southbound Roosevelt Expressway bridge (top) over the Schuylkill. PennDot officials shut down the ramp (right) from Roosevelt Expressway to I-76 West Tuesday after discovering structural damage following a crash.
Traffic moves on the southbound Roosevelt Expressway bridge (top) over the Schuylkill. PennDot officials shut down the ramp (right) from Roosevelt Expressway to I-76 West Tuesday after discovering structural damage following a crash.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
    by Jesse Bunch
    Updated 
    Published 

Drivers should expect delays at the Roosevelt Expressway ramp to I-76 West after a large vehicle struck the bridge Tuesday afternoon, causing structural damage.

The ramp will remain closed until bridge engineers can make repairs, officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said.

No definitive timeline for the ramp’s reopening emerged after PennDot’s bridge team met Wednesday. But the repairs could take multiple weeks, according to Harold Windisch, head of PennDot’s local construction unit.

PennDot engineers and designers need to finalize a repair plan in the coming days before work can begin, Windisch said.

In the meantime, motorists are advised to head east on I-76 before exiting at Montgomery Drive to access the westbound lane and City Avenue. Drivers should anticipate adding extra travel time, PennDot officials said.

Windisch said that three of the bridge’s floor beams were damaged from the crash, bending them at a critical, weight-bearing area. Those areas could require heat straightening, he said, while one of the girders — a horizontal support structure — was cracked where it met the vertical floor beams. Some repairs will involve strengthening cracks with plates of steel, according to Windisch.

The traffic turmoil began about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Windisch said, when a truck hauling a temporary storage container struck the bridge. The container separated from the vehicle and had to be removed from I-76, according to Windisch. PennDot will be investigating whether the hauling met state load limits, he said.

Meanwhile, PennDot has begun retiming the light at Montgomery Drive and I-76 to accommodate the increase of detoured drivers.

Windisch urged motorists to take alternative routes, suggesting that Roosevelt Boulevard travelers instead take Henry Avenue through Manayunk to get to City Avenue.

“In all eventuality, I think it will be into next week with this detour,” Windisch said. “We were fortunate this week, traffic’s down. Next week people are going to be coming back.”

Motorists can check roadway conditions on 511PA.com and view a complete list of construction projects along state-owned highways through the District 6 traffic bulletin.