(WHTM) -- Interstate 95 is a major artery on the eastern seaboard, and it has been severed in Philadelphia.
The highway collapsed on Sunday, June 11, after a tanker truck exploded beneath it. The impact is enormous in terms of traffic and commerce and the state has taken an all-hands-on-deck approach to deal with the fallout.
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro quickly signed a disaster declaration, which sends $7 million to PEMA and cuts red tape for other agencies like Pennsylvania State Police and PennDOT, hoping to quickly rebuild I-95.
Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D-Philadelphia) represents the district where cars are being detoured off the highway. It's a nightmare with 170,000 cars traveling the route every day, but he's encouraged by the quick response of the federal government, the state, and the city.
"The key is going to be: is that response going to be sustained? Are we going to put in enough resources to make certain that the reconstruction happens on a tight enough schedule so that we're back in business before the end of the year or even sooner?" Hohenstein said.
"We're looking at a temporary fix as well as a full fix; temporary to get it up and running for a fix to get it completely repaired 100%," added Transportation Committee Chair Rep. Ed Neilson (D).
Neilson is also from Philadelphia and is thankful it happened on a Sunday morning and not one day later.
"My son would have been on I-95 passing that particular spot about quarter after six, 6:20. We estimate 6:19 is when this collapsed. My son could have been part of that," Neilson said. "The devastation of the loss of life would have been huge."
Because of a Gov. Tom Wolf-era Constitutional amendment on emergency declarations, Gov. Shapiro's declaration expires in 21 days. The legislature has to re-up and perhaps be forced back to Harrisburg every three weeks unless a deal can be struck.
"It is the traditional definition of an emergency. I can't commit that we would be willing to extend it, but it seems to me that a compelling case could be made if the governor decides that he needs to ask us," said Majority Leader Senator Joe Pittman (R).
Pennsylvania can be provincial. There may be Pennsylvanians in Erie or Luzerne Counties wondering why they should care about a highway in Philadelphia.
"I-95 is the lifeline to, frankly, not just southeastern Pennsylvania, but the entire mid-Atlantic of our great United States," said Majority Leader Rep. Matt Bradford (D).
It is too soon to say how long I-95 is going to be closed and too soon to say how much it's going to cost.
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