PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro prepared Wednesday to announce how Pennsylvania plans to replace a collapsed section of an important East Coast highway as investigators look into why a truck hauling gasoline went out of control on an off-ramp and flipped on its side, igniting a fire.
Three days have passed since the fire caused the collapse of the northbound lanes of I-95 and severely damaged the southbound lanes.
It could take weeks, at least, to replace the damaged and destroyed section. Meanwhile the collapse is snarling traffic in Philadelphia as the summer travel season starts, upending hundreds of thousands of morning commutes, disrupting countless businesses and forcing trucking companies to find different routes.
Pennsylvania’s transportation secretary, Michael Carroll, said demolition work is continuing around the clock on the roughly 100-foot (30 meter) section of I-95, and the Biden administration is pledging its aid.
For now, I-95 will be closed in both directions. The elevated southbound portion of I-95 will have to be demolished, as well as the northbound side, officials say.
The destruction of a section of I-95 is likely raise the cost of consumer goods because truckers must now travel longer routes, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
Of the 160,000 vehicles a day that travel that section, 8% are trucks, Buttigieg said.
Police say the driver died in the accident. The Philadelphia medical examiner identified him Tuesday night as Nathan Moody, 53.
State police officials said the trucking company had contacted them and has been cooperating, but declined to identify the company or say whether it was properly licensed for hauling gasoline.
Authorities say the driver was headed northbound on his way to deliver fuel to a convenience store when the truck lost control on a curving off-ramp, landing on its side and rupturing the tank.
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