Past repair: Aging I-83 bridge spanning Susquehanna to get $1 billion replacement

• By Trebor Maitin/Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association

The aging Interstate 83 bridge to Harrisburg spanning the Susquehanna River will be replaced by the end of the decade with the help of $500 million from the federal government.

The interstate connects central Pennsylvania to Baltimore and is considered part of a vital travel corridor.

“I’m sure most people you talk to in the area wouldn’t need a study to tell them just how important this is,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was in Harrisburg to talk about the federal money.

Total construction costs are expected to exceed $1 billion, according to Gov. Josh Shapiro, with the balance coming from state gas and motor license taxes. He estimated that 125,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day.

The interstate “not only connects our communities on both sides of the river, it’s also a critical route for commerce and supply chains up and down the East Coast of the United States,” Shapiro said.

He emphasized that the new bridge will not be tolled, putting to bed a years-old plan by the state Department of Transportation that received public backlash.

Construction for the new bridge is slated to begin in 2026 and will take between two and three years to complete, according to PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. I-83 traffic will not be impacted during the bridge’s construction, he added.

The new bridge will be wider than the current one and include improved on- and off-ramps, according to a news release from Shapiro’s office. The project will also see overhauls in Lemoyne – the South 3rd Street bridge there will be replaced, and the interchange will be reconfigured.

State Sen. John DiSanto, a Republican whose district includes Harrisburg, said in a statement he looks forward to the project’s completion.

“Basic transportation infrastructure like this interstate bridge is an important safety, quality of life and economic development necessity that government should be focused on,” he said.

The federal funding is part of a grant program aimed at repairing 13 of the nation’s largest bridges. That program comes from a $1.2 trillion infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021.

The John Harris Memorial Bridge was built in 1960 and has been partially closed several times in recent months for repairs.

“There was a clear need for bridge repairs to overcome the decades of underinvestment from Washington and nowhere is that need greater than the I-83 South Bridge right here in Harrisburg,” Buttigieg said.

A large homeless encampment stands under the bridge. Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams said that she, the Shapiro administration, county government officials and nonprofits are working toward a plan to mitigate the construction’s impact on the encampment.