In my previous post I mentioned that it is anticiapted that the new south bound mainline and ramp from 42 north to 295 north will open early next year but the northbound mainline will come some time afterwards. The difference in opening times for the north and south bound lanes doesn't have anything to with the time it will take to build them, but instead it is due to the logistics of connecting the north bound lanes on either end. Here I will describe what has to happen at each end of the new mainline and what I think the sequence of construction will be. I haven't seen any detailed plans for the final phase of construction so these are just my speculations. 42 Freeway recently did a video about this but I will dig into it in a bit more detail.
Lets start by looking at the North end of the project. Here is a picture of the area from mid June, 2026. At the top is 295 south which splits into the lanes going to the Al-Jo curve which re-connects to 295 and 42 South, and lanes going to 76 west. At the bottom of the picture are the lanes from from 295 north, 42 north and 76 east. In the middle is the new construction which will be 295 south, 295 north and the ramp from 42 morth.
As you can see there is a unfinished section at the end of what will be the new ramp from 42 north. This was left in this state because with the five lanes of traffic coming out of the tunnel, there is no room to complete this. Here is how I speculate that this will be finished. When the ramp from 42 north is ready to open I believe they will initially route it towards the center barrier where 295 north will eventually be. They will also be able to eliminate 1 or 2 lanes that are currently coming though the tunnel. This will free up enough room to complete this end of the 295 north mainline to prepare it to be connected to the existing 295 north. When everything is complete it appears that only one lane will come through the tunnel and that will come from 76 east.
Here is a look at the other end of the tunnel. The lower lanes carry the 295 north and 42 north traffic. and the upper the 76 east traffic. In the final configuration that lower ramp will be completely removed since it will no longer be needed and I believe 76 East will merge down to one lane just before the tunnel.
Here is a picture of the southern end of the project. At the top is the ramp that is currently carrying traffic coming south from the northern part of 295. This will eventually carry traffic coming east on 76 from Philadelphia. Below this are the new 295 north and 295 south mainlines. Next are two lanes that share a ramp, one coming from 76 east and the other going to the 76 west express lane. In the final state this ramp will be removed. Finally at the bottom are the two lanes that carry the 295 through traffic and also connect to 76 west.
Just like the north side things need to change in this area to make room to connect up the new 295 mainline. Here is how I speculate things will be sequenced to complete the construction:
- Once the new ramp from 42 north to 295 north is open it will reduce the traffic at the end of the 295 north ramp so they will be able to remove the express ramp to 76 west and send all the traffic down the ramp at the bottom of the picture.
- With the 295 south mainline open, that traffic will no longer be using the Al-Jo curve, so they can build the new ramp from 76 east to 295 south, then the ramp at the top of the picture will carry that traffic. This will allow the complete removal of the center ramp and free up the room to make the final connections.
As I mentioned, the ramp marked in red below is not part of the final design and will be removed. This will allow 42 to be straightened out through this area.
