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On October 2nd, we conducted a Hardhat Tour of the I-95 CAP project currently under construction. The tour, attended by 30 people, was led by David Warner and Chad Lavallee, PE, Project Managers from Buckley & Company, Inc. Buckley is the general contractor for the project, which consists of the construction of a nearly 12-acre park over I-95 - stitching back together the geographic areas that I-95 separated when it was built in the 1960s and ‘70s, lopping off whole neighborhoods from their direct connection to the Delaware River. When complete, the park will cover about four acres over I-95 between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. Another seven acres will slope down to the waterfront from Columbus Boulevard (formerly Delaware Avenue along that section). PennDOT Secretary, Mike Carroll, said the project is estimated to cost ~$360 million for design and construction.

David Warner spoke about how extensive coordination with PECO and PWD has resulted in Buckley changing the order and staging of the construction. They recently relocated two monuments – one Irish and the other Scottish - to an area near dock street where they will remain until moved to their final location at the completion of the project. Most of the required demolition has been done at night to limit traffic delays or on weekends to limit construction noise at night.

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David also explained how the new South Street Pedestrian Bridge extension over Christopher Columbus Boulevard is being constructed to the side and will be lifted into place with cranes in a single weekend. This part of the project should be completed by late spring of 2026. For this in-person tour, our visitors were able to see where piles were being driven for the new Piers 1, 2 and the new Abutment 1.

Check out photos from the event here.