Welcome changes to the Blue Route to ease congestion
Traffic could soon be flowing a little more smoothly on one of the region’s busiest freeways. Big changes are coming to the Blue Route, and PennDOT says the goal is to make the freeway safer.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. – Traffic could soon be flowing a little more smoothly on one of the region’s busiest freeways. Big changes are coming to the Blue Route, and PennDOT says the goal is to make the freeway safer.
“It’s horrible. It’s an absolute nightmare,” said motorcyclist Mike Torelli of Newtown Square.
Driving on busy Interstate 476 might as well be a rite of passage for Delaware County.
“Oh God, chaotic. It’s terrible,” said commuter Jesse Muir.
The Blue Route, officially the Mid-County Expressway, was planned back in 1960 and completed in 1991. But after decades of growth, even PennDot admits the highway is a bit outdated. The road is used by an average of 70,000 travelers a day and has become a constant source of annoyance for commuters.
“We’ve outgrown it, quite frankly,” said PennDot spokesman Brad Rudolph. He said the state has already begun the first phase of a multi-year “Active Traffic Management” project to improve the Blue Route.
Workers have already begun installing variable speed limit signs that change depending on traffic and weather conditions.
Adaptive ramp control dynamically adjusts signals at ramp entrances to proactively control vehicle flow from the ramps.
PennDOT will build the necessary conduits, queue detectors, dynamic message signs and engineering systems required to operate the system from PennDOT’s new Regional Transportation Management Center.
The project also includes the construction of emergency exit zones to provide better access for stranded drivers and rescue workers.
“We hope that this will relieve the pressure on the main line 476. Traffic will flow a little more smoothly. It will also relieve pressure on some of the main traffic arteries running parallel to it,” said Rudolph.
One of the biggest changes will be made on a 14-mile stretch between I-95 and West Chester Pike in the project’s second phase, scheduled for 2027. The inner shoulders of each direction will be used as “flexible lanes” during rush hours, allowing an entire lane to be added if needed.
“It would be a shoulder for the left lane, but if needed, there would be these overhead lane designations, these gantries similar to what you see on the Walt Whitman Bridge or the Betsy Ross Bridge, where you can control when the lane is used,” Rudolph added.
The changes won’t be completed until 2029. For many commuters, that’s not fast enough. Muir, who works in a doctor’s office on the Main Line, says she avoids riding the Blue Route at all costs. But she might reconsider if major improvements are made.
“Absolutely. Especially if a third lane was added on many sections, I would do that. One hundred percent,” she said.
PennDOT says it is planning a similar upgrade of I-76 with flexible shoulders. That project is scheduled for 2027.
