Princeton Avenue in Tacony to be a two-way street as of 3 p.m.
A seven-block section of Princeton Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia that currently carries only eastbound traffic will become a two-way street on Monday when crews open it to westbound traffic between State Road and Torresdale Avenue.
PennDOT said the new westbound lane is scheduled to open by 3 p.m. Monday (Nov. 14). Prior to changing the street to a two-way pattern, crews will restrict eastbound Princeton Avenue to a single lane east of Torresdale Avenue to paint new traffic lines.
Once the new westbound lane is in service, Princeton Avenue will carry one lane of westbound traffic alongside a single eastbound lane. In addition, PennDOT has installed “traffic calming” curb bump-outs and dedicated bicycle lanes on both sides of Princeton Avenue in the seven blocks east of Torresdale Avenue.
The schedule for implementing the Princeton Avenue traffic pattern change is dependent on the weather.
The two-way pattern on Princeton Avenue is one of several improvements PennDOT has made to surface streets in the Tacony neighborhood in recent months. Last August, PennDOT converted Cottman Avenue to two-way traffic east of Torresdale Avenue and opened a new on-ramp to Interstate 95 South from State Road at Longshore Avenue.
Crews also widened State Road to include two southbound lanes, along with one northbound lane, between Cottman Avenue and New State Road to improve traffic flow to the new on-ramp at Longshore Avenue.
The surface street improvements are part of PennDOT’s $31.9 million project to build two new ramps at the I-95/Cottman Avenue Interchange and to improve Cottman Avenue, Princeton Avenue and State Road. This project began in May 2009 and is expected to finish late this year.
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