PHILADELPHIA — The Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) and the Philadelphia Department of Streets report that Spruce and Pine Repaving and Safety Project is in full swing. Paving of Pine Street has been completed. With a few exceptions, discussed below, the City anticipates that all paving on Spruce Street will be completed by Friday, August 2 and, weather permitting, the lane switch should be completed the following morning on Saturday for both Pine and Spruce Streets.
Although the majority of the project remains on schedule, the City today announced a modified resurfacing schedule for some portions of Spruce Street.
“This has been a very complex project requiring intensive coordination and engagement between the City and a variety of stakeholders, including residents, businesses, the Parking Authority, telecommunications companies, and public utilities,” said Mike Carroll, Deputy Managing Director of Transportation for OTIS. “We are confident that the project when completed will address a number of goals, including the enhancement of safety and improving the state of repair for the street itself as well as the variety of infrastructure that utilizes the public right of way.”
The intensity of coordination with utilities during street resurfacing represents a new way of doing business for the City. For each new street that is paved, the City makes efforts to coordinate as much underground work as possible before a street is scheduled for paving. The goal is to avoid having contractors come back to tear up recently paved streets to conduct upgrades and repairs.
Spruce Street Resurfacing Schedule Update
In working with PECO, the City has identified several blocks of Spruce Street where resurfacing work will be delayed due to utility work.
On sections of three blocks, paving will not be complete until September 7, 2019 (weather permitting):
- From 11th Street to 12th Street
- From Juniper Street to 13th Street
- From 15th Street to 16th Street
On three blocks, milling and paving will NOT occur for several months. The City will work hard with PECO to have this work completed by November. However if utility repairs extend beyond the 2019 cold weather cut off, resurfacing work will be performed in Spring 2020. Note that the lane switch WILL be completed on these blocks using temporary markings:
- 1800 block of Spruce Street
- 1900 block of Spruce Street
- 2100 block of Spruce Street
On one block, milling and paving work will occur but PECO has been authorized to conduct utility work shortly after resurfacing:
- 2000 block of Spruce Street
This means the 2000 block of Spruce Street will be under construction a second time when the 1800, 1900, and 2000 blocks are also being paved.
The City is encouraged that PECO’s work will add significant reliability to electricity distribution in Center City, justifying the aforementioned delays. Together with PECO, the City is committed to learning from this experience and identifying ways to further improve our coordination moving forward.
The City understands the inconvenience and disruption that this may cause and appreciates the public’s patience as these improvements are made.
Residents can track the status of City resurfacing by visiting https://streetsmartphl.phila.gov/.