Delaware Gov. John Carney and Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Nicole Majeski joined other state and local officials on Thursday to celebrate the completion of the I-95 Restore the Corridor Project.
Started in February 2021, the $200 million project was completed in November 2022, four months ahead of schedule. The project saw the repair of more than a million square feet of bridge deck, as well as the replacement of more than two miles of bridge joints and three miles of concrete bridge barrier.
“Maintaining and improving our infrastructure is critical for our communities and our economy. These projects are not easy, and I am grateful to the DelDOT team and the contractors for completing this job well and ahead of schedule,” Carney said.
DelDOT began planning and designing the project in 2014 that was intended to rehabilitate the road surface and bridge structures, as well as address new Second Street safety issues and widen the I-95 northbound Brandywine River Bridge. Plans were also made to replace lights with new LED lighting for improved visibility and add a high-friction surface treatment to cut down on crashes.
“This was a fantastic team effort with planning and preparation for this project beginning back in 2014, and we had dozens of DelDOT employees from across the Department engaged in this project from its early stages to the end of construction,” Majeski said. “The Kiewit Corporation and our local contracting community did an outstanding job completing this work that will ensure I-95 through Wilmington is safe and well-maintained for decades to come.”
The Restore the Corridor project also included a five-mile section beginning at the I-495/I-95 split and ending north of the I-95 Brandywine River bridge which encompassed 19 bridges, arterial and local streets, a bridge over the Amtrak rail lines and the repair of the Brandywine River Bridge.
“Tens of thousands of motorists use the I-95 corridor, and this project will keep the efficiency and safety of this highway going for at least another 30 years,” U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said. “This project is a great example of what we can do to support the economy when we invest in infrastructure, and there are a lot more of these investments to come thanks to the once-in-a-generation investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that we passed last year.”