Bensalem Mayor Pleads Patience Over Interstate 95 Collapse

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —Motorists unfamiliar with driving Interstate 95 may find themselves in the township due to the Interstate 95 collapse, township officials said Monday.

Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said that township and state officials expect to be impacted by drivers who use Google Maps to find themselves rerouted onto Route 1, Roosevelt Boulevard, and Street Road to avoid the Interstate 95 closure —which is a stone's throw from the township's border.

"We're going to get people going through our town," the mayor told Patch Monday. "Our police department will be on top of it."

Motorists are using alternative routes to avoid the area where a tractor-trailer carrying a petroleum-based product caught fire under Interstate 95 on the Route 73/Cottman Avenue ramp at around 6:20 a.m. Sunday.

The fire caused a portion of the highway to collapse, closing the highway in both directions indefinitely.

Northbound I-95 completely collapsed, while the southbound interstate was rendered structurally unsound due to the fire. The interstate remains closed in both directions.

PennDOT has provided alternative routes to steer clear of the highway:

• Southbound drivers are being detoured to Route 63 West/Woodhaven Road, Route 1 South, then Interstates 76 East and 676 East.
• Northbound drivers are detoured to Interstates 676 West and 76 West, then Route 1 North and Route 63 East. (See PennDOT's details on the detour here.

William McVey, the township's Director of Public Safety, said that the impact of the closure hasn't been felt in the township so far.

"I think everyone is aware of the problem," McVey said. "We're worried about the lanes being closed for so long. It's in PennDOT's hands now. We're just trying to direct people to the alternate routes."

McVey said the police department is operating in a "business-as-usual" mode and that no extra officers are stationed around certain points near where motorists may be redirected.

"There's no plan that we have to do this or that," the mayor said.

Council President Joe Pilieri said that it's too early to tell the impact the closure —which is near the township's Eddington section —will have on the community, but that the mayor and police department will make adjustments where necessary.

"There will be a lot of cut-through traffic," Pilieri said about Bensalem being a connection point to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Interstate 95, and Interstate 295 with Street Road.

State Sen. Frank Farry —who represents the township —said that his office is just trying to disseminate information to motorists to keep the traffic impact to a minimum.

Farry said his office was encouraging people to work from home or take mass transit.

"Covid showed us what we can do when there's a disaster," he said.

He said that the Burlington Bristol Bridge may be an option for motorists and that those driving to work in Philadelphia could maybe work on alternate schedules to ease the traffic burden. He also hoped that employers would work with their employees on how to best handle commutes and work situations.

DiGirolamo said that residents will just have to cope with the impact of the road collapse.

"These things happen. They shouldn't happen but they do," the mayor said. "People are going to have to be patient. I just hope the governor, PennDOT, and everyone works quickly."