SR 0001 Widening and Bridge Replacements

US 1 (known locally as SR 0001) provides important connections within the region, state, and nation, and is a major north-south highway that traverses the entire east coast from Key West, FL to the Maine/Canada border.

JMT provided planning and design services to widen 2.5 miles of US 1 from just south of Street Road to Business Route 1 & CSX/SEPTA in Bucks County. The project included seven bridge replacements and the reconstruction of four interchanges including the Pennsylvania Turnpike Bensalem interchange at US 1. The project’s purpose was to replace and repair aging bridges while incorporating highway and interchange safety enhancements to facilitate the continued safe and efficient intermodal travel along the corridor.

During the preliminary engineering phase, JMT developed and analyzed existing and future traffic data to determine the improvements necessary that would accommodate the anticipated future traffic growth for this section of the U.S. 1 corridor and the four interchanges. Other major project work tasks included all relevant engineering services as well as field surveys, preparation of environmental documents and coordination with environmental agencies.

JMT evaluated design solutions consisting of various configurations and geometric layouts to meet the project purpose and need while limiting impacts to adjacent properties and natural and cultural resources. The preferred alignment minimized impacts to wetlands and streams and avoided several properties eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The project’s environmental clearance was completed at the Categorical Exclusion level. JMT’s public involvement and outreach program, which included a project website, focused on the context of the community consisting of multiple municipalities, residents, businesses, and property owners to support development of a smart transportation solution.

The final design included widening four lanes to six lanes, adding acceleration and deceleration lanes, reconfiguring alignments of the four interchanges, and providing roadway improvements and widening to Street Road and Rock Hill Drive to provide additional capacity at the intersections with the US 1 interchange ramps.

Structural design included design of seven replacement bridges, two bridge rehabilitations, and four retaining walls. Traffic control staging for US 1 and the interchanges involved multiple stages to maintain the existing four lanes of US 1 traffic and traffic on all ramps during construction.