Direct Connect April 2024

There hasn't been a lot of easily visible work on the Direct Connect project over the past few months but recently there were a few visible changes. 

Work has started up again on the second bridge abutment for the Browning Road overpass. The first was complete a while back, and the other side was demolished but then work appeared to stop. In the picture below you can see the four rebar cages that will for support columns for the new abutment. 

Another recent change, move concrete structures have been poured on top of the columns which will support the new 295 main line overpass. 

 

The rest of the work has focused on rebuilding the collapsed section of the roadway. A temporary retaining wall has been build to hold up the back portion of the roadway so work can be done to create a stronger foundation for the from retaining wall. 

Direct Connect February 2024

Small update. Looks like they are starting to rebuild the columns that are at the end of the mainline road. These will support the end of the overpass over Browning Rd and 76. 

Direct Connect January 2024

Work continues to rebuild the collapsed section of the new mainline road. Pilings are still being driven in to the front section of the road.

 

For the first time in a while, work has started on another section of the project. A concrete form has been installed on the top of the support columns nearest Browning Road. These will eventually carry the new mainline over 42 and Browning Road. 

Direct Connect December 2023

Here is a look at the retaining wall that was built between the tunnel to 295 North and the 295 South lanes.  

Work continues to re-build the collapsed section of the new main line roadway. A temporary retaining wall has been build to hold up the back section of the roadway. They have now started to driving pilings that will form the foundation for the front section of the roadway. 

Work hasn't started on the second Browning Road overpass abutment yet, but it appears that some work was being do to stabilize the temporary retaining walls. 

Missing Moves is Open!

On Tuesday morning the missing moves ramp opened for public use! There is still some line painting going on over night and some cleanup tasks but the project is mostly complete. Unlike the Direct Connect Project this project went very smoothly and actually completed earlier then originally planned, despite the fact that it started in the early days of COVID.

The ramp from 55 North to 42 North has been expanded to 2 lanes and when I drove this around 6:30 AM Tuesday morning there was not delay at the end of 55, I continued full speed all the way from 55 to 295 South. 

Here are some pictures going from 42 North to 295 South later on Tuesday.

The new ramp starts as two lanes but then merges down to one. 

 

You can just see the stop of the Philadelphia skyline in the distance. 

From here the new right lane goes all the way down to exit 25B, 47 North. If you are not getting off at that exit you will need to move over a lane to the left. 

Direct Connect November 2023

 For the last few months the focus of the work on the Direct Connect project has been the reconstruction of the collapsed section of roadway. 

Over the past few weeks they have been driving in pilings in the area of where the center of the road and these pilings have been capped off in concrete. This appears to be a temporary retaining wall that is allowing them to excavate out the front portion of the road which is where the problem that lead to the collapse occured. 

Missing Moves November 2023 - Part 2

 On 295 North paving have been completed and the road re-striped into the final lane configuration. 

The area under the ramp near Harding Ave has been cleaned up and hydro-seeded. 

Final guardrails have also been installed. 

Paving and striping has been completed on 42 South. The new ramp an be seen on the right.

The end of the new ramp where it merges into 42.