PA Gov. Josh Shapiro Gonna Reopen I-95, With A Little Help From NASCAR Track

Within two weeks of a fiery tanker-truck crash on June 11 that caused a stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia to collapse, the temporarily repaired roadway will be ready to reopen this weekend, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced today on Twitter. The weekend reopening had been contingent, however, on good weather. Instead, the forecast calls for rain.

So hey, how about a nice-time story where the local government gets things done quickly and efficiently? And with rain coming, the local-ish NASCAR racetrack, Pocono Raceway, 100 miles north of the city, was happy to loan the state the use of its “jet dryer” truck, which uses a turbine engine from a helicopter to blow air at around 1400 degrees Fahrenheit, to dry off the freshly laid asphalt so it can be painted.

Here’s your feel-good tweet from Gov. Shapiro:

NASCAR racers can’t run safely on wet pavement, so every track has a jet-dryer system; in the ’70s and ’80s, most used literal jet engines like the one from Pocono Raceway, although faster technology using compressed air is the norm for on-track use, with the older jet trucks for backup.

State Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll called Pocono Raceway Wednesday to ask for help, and the track operators, who know Carroll from his time as state representative for the area, were happy to help, said Ricky Durst, the racetrack’s senior director of marketing.

WHYY explains how the process will work:

Paving on the six-lane segment reconnecting I-95 happened overnight on Wednesday, according to PennDOT. And this morning, after a Pa. State Police escort down to the construction site, the jet dryer starts the work of keeping the newly laid asphalt dry so construction crews can paint the lines on top of it, Durst said.

“All things being equal, I would anticipate it takes maybe a couple hours” to dry the segment, Durst told Billy Penn.

And once the temporary repairs are done, the state can shift money around from Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill to free up funding for a longer-term fix. And no, even though some NASCAR equipment was involved, you won’t be able to go 200 MPH on the repaired I-95.

You know, it’s almost as if effective local government and federal infrastructure funding are good things. The Heritage Foundation and the rest of them can go jump in a very wet lake.

Also, remember that tomorrow is our wrap-up meeting of the Wonkette Book Club, so finish Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future(or finish as much as you can of it) and we will talk climate, including maybe why electric NASCAR racecars could be pretty friggin’ cool.

OPEN THREAD.

[WHYY / ESPN]

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