Route 42/76 “Scrambling”? Blame I-76 Overpass Rebuild at Klemm Ave.

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A $57.2 million project to replace the I-76 overpass at Klemm Ave. In Gloucester City NJ progressed to remove and rebuild decking, causing significant traffic delays.

The tracks were moved and reduced to provide sufficient work area for deck reconstruction. This causes traffic delays at all hours of the day, frustrating motorists.

Normally, the Klemm Ave Viaduct has a total of 11 lanes of traffic (6 westbound, 5 eastbound), but it has now been reduced to a total of nine lanes of traffic and the loss of several shoulders.

Interestingly, the way these 9 lanes are assigned changes depending on the time of day and can really put a strain on traffic heading into Philadelphia!

Both directions of I-76 are experiencing traffic issues, but it appears that the west side (from Route 42 to Philadelphia/Cherry Hill) is more susceptible to traffic delays because, depending on the time of day, this direction may lose two lanes of use for traffic. !

The time of day is a factor in this, as to better support the flow of traffic during the morning and evening rush hours, a movable central divider has been installed, which allows the number of lanes available to be changed in every direction from morning to afternoon.

A similar moving barrier is within us on both decks (Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin)

The I-76 Overpass Reconstruction Project on Klemm Ave. The diagram shows how to make room to redo the bridge, the lanes have been reduced and staggered. A movable divider can sometimes reduce the westerly direction by 2 lanes

So it makes sense that during the morning rush hour when most people are heading to Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, the west side of 76 has five lanes (and the east side has 4),

Likewise, as traffic patterns reverse for the evening rush hour, the eastbound lanes (away from Philadelphia) have five lanes and the west side is reduced to four lanes.

But the best possible option does not always guarantee a perfect experience.

So first, it’s important to note that the outermost lane on the west side is actually an “in” approach lane for incoming traffic on Route 130. While cars on the main highway 76 could move, in reality at the time of the overpass this rightmost lane is dedicated to incoming traffic from Route 130.

So, in perfect conditions, I-76 West is 5 full traffic lanes and an inbound lane from Rt 130.

But then consider that on Route 42 N towards this section there are five full lanes of traffic… which in the pre-construction days was 5 straight lanes all the way. Perfect.

But now, in the afternoon rush, I-76 has a total of four lanes, and one of them is still really dedicated to incoming Rt 130 traffic on 76.

FIVE lanes of Route 42 merging into THREE lanes of I-76. Slow merge traffic.

Afternoon footage as Route 42 heads into the proposed I-76 Klemm Ave overpass and lanes are reduced from five to three. (Red and Blue indicating lane closures)

So even when northbound traffic is lighter in the late afternoon, there is still enough lane reduction with cars navigating each other as they merge into fewer lanes. , this creates much slower and sometimes stopped traffic…even if it is three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon!

For example, last Saturday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. I researched and drove this route to experience it myself and soon found myself in a heavy traffic jam. Then again Sunday around 4:00 p.m. I was coming back from the Cherry Hill area and again saw that the north side was blocked off.

Now I know most people in the original 42Freeway area are most concerned about the morning rush hour commute as people drive north on the 42 and into Philly and Cherry Hill via the I -76.

And remember that lane changes are set to favor the time of day, so in the morning the west side of 76 should have the extra fifth lane.

But five is still less than six. The morning route with its already heavy traffic will have one lane less and the cars will merge.

2022 image of previous concrete work to shore up support columns on I-76 at Klemm Ave

Keep in mind that along the way, traffic from 295 south also merges not too far from the Klemm Ave!

So it looks like that’s enough to cause significant delays and problems for commuters.

The contractor started implementing the changes early last week and by the end of the week I received several messages from people complaining about the terrible traffic conditions in the morning.

I drove Saturday and Sunday to investigate and get the footage seen here, and since it was the weekend, I didn’t get a chance to speak to NJDOT about the exact duration of the lane change.

Close-up of the decking removed on 1/3 of the I-76 overpass at Klemm Ave

But I can tell you that they plan to remove and rebuild all the decking on the entire freeway overpass, completing it in segments.

It appears at this time that they have decided to split the re-decking project into thirds, and when this first segment is complete, they will shift traffic again to focus on the central portion and the westbound portions separately.

So overall, I don’t know how long it will take, but it looks to me like it’s going to take a lot longer than a few weeks.

And you can tell just from the photos that it’s more than just a layer of asphalt.

When they say “replace decking” they literally remove the entire horizontal surface of the pavement, including the steel substructure beneath the concrete and asphalt.

I am unsure at this point to what extent the top bases of the exposed support columns need to be removed and rebuilt.

But it sure looks like it will be a challenge for us for a while. And Memorial Weekend is only a month away.

I am contacting the NJDOT for update comments and estimated timelines.

I-76 Klemm Ave Upper Bridge Replacement Project

I’ve covered this project before…a big summary before it started, then later updates.

The complete Rt 76 Bridge project(s) will replace four major I-76 elevated highway bridges and their decks over several years. and cost $175 million.

The I-76 overpass at Klemm Ave has been reported to be badly deteriorated and a safety risk:

The rapid deterioration of the Route 76 Bridge over the Newton Creek South Branch, Klemm Avenue and Conrail Bridge Deck required the project to be split into three small group projects to expedite the delivery of this particular bridge deck.

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission

The viaduct is a wide section of road with ELEVEN lanes, plus THREE shoulder lanes. Fourteen routes in total! And the new roadway should be even wider.

Links and locations

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