Travel tips: Detours and SEPTA options following I-95 collapse

With I-95 shut down for the foreseeable future, commuters who usually take the highway past Northeast Philadelphia will need to find other ways to work and elsewhere.

For local traffic, southbound drivers have to get off at the Cottman Avenue exit; turn right onto Bleigh Street; make a left on State Road and reenter the interstate at Longshore Avenue, city officials said.

Northbound motorists must exit at Aramingo Avenue and they are being told to turn right on Tacony Street, taking the road around the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge loop to New State Road. Drivers can then continue to Milnor Street to get back on I-95.

Trucks and longer distance travelers are being directed to take Woodhaven Road, Roosevelt Boulevard, I-76 and the Vine Street Expressway to reconnect with the interstate.

Meanwhile, police have closed the I-95 northbound ramps at Castor Avenue, Aramingo Avenue, and the off-ramp from the Betsy Ross Bridge. In addition, the on-ramp at Bridge Street is closed.

Tacony Street has been converted into a one-way road, with all traffic moving northbound. Drivers coming from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge can no longer turn onto Tacony Street; they must continue onto Levick Street. State Road is also now one-way from Cottman Avenue to Longshore Avenue to facilitate the detours.

Those looking to avoid the congestion can use SEPTA to bypass the collapsed highway.

On the Trenton Line, which runs along the eastern edge of Northeast Philadelphia and parts of Bucks County, new trains to Center City have been added at 6:40 a.m. and 8:03 a.m. There will also be an 8:35 a.m. leaving from Holmesburg Junction.

In the afternoons, additional trips will depart Suburban Station for Trenton at 4:30 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. Another train will head to Holmesburg at 3:05 p.m.

SEPTA has said it will also be increasing capacity on the West Trenton and Fox Chase lines, which serve Northeast Philadelphia and sections of Montgomery and Bucks counties.

To compensate for the increased service, the authority is busing all Cynwyd Line riders to and from Overbrook Station.

Parking has been free at SEPTA lots since the beginning of the pandemic. The Philadelphia Parking Authority has waived fees at its lots at Fern Rock, Fox Chase and Torresdale stations.

There is also ample free parking at Frankford Transportation Center garages for access to the Market-Frankford Line.