A four year project to repair and improve the Market Street Bridge, which connects Center City and University City, will require periodic closures of the span starting this month, and then next summer the bridge will be closed for 14 months as the PennDOT work continues, officials said.
The 93-year-old bridge that crosses over Interstate 76, rail lines and the Schuylkill River will be partially rebuilt along with several of its support structures. The 14-month closure of the Market Street Bridge is scheduled to take effect from August 2026 until October 2027, and PennDOT said the projected cost of the construction is $149 million.
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On Monday, contractors will begin work rerouting utilities in the area, and PennDOT expects this will require occasional lane closures on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The superstructure of the Market Street Bridge sits at the intersection of Schuylkill Avenue and Market Street. That structure and the adjacent sidewalks over the Schuylkill River will be replaced, and the portion of the bridge that crosses the Schuylkill River Trail and the CSX railroad on the east side will be replaced with a single-span bridge and retaining walls.
The Schuylkill River Trail will remain open under Market Street, but part of the trail below Chestnut Street will be affected as crews rebuild a river wall.
The project will make improvements for cyclists and pedestrians. Market Street's traffic lanes will be reconfigured from Schuylkill Avenue to 23rd Street, allowing crews to construct two-way bike lanes that will be separated from vehicular traffic by concrete separators. The new bike lanes will connect with existing bike lanes at 23rd Street. A traffic light with a bicycle signal will be installed on the west end of the bridge.
The Walnut Street Bridge, which crosses the Schuylkill River a couple blocks south, will be resurfaced. That stretch also will get a parking-separated bike lane and new traffic signals. Most of the work on Walnut Street will happen after the detours for the Market Street portion of the project have been lifted.
To minimize impacts on the Philadelphia's semiquncentennial celebration, FIFA World Cup and MLB All-Star game next summer, there will be no project detours in effect from June 1, 2026, to Aug. 7, 2026, PennDOT said.
During the 14 months when the Market Street Bridge is closed, there will be occasional weekend street closures on the west side of the Schuylkill River and times when I-76 will be closed in both directions from Arch Street to Walnut Street.
In later phases of the Market Street Bridge reconstruction, PennDOT said two lanes of traffic crossing the river will be maintained in each direction daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The federal government is paying 80% of the bridge reconstruction project and the rest will be covered by the state.