Philly fixed a melted interstate in 12 days. Why does everything else take so long?
A Vox Future Perfect article by Sara Herschander examines how Philadelphia's collapsed I-95 was rebuilt in 12 days after a June 2023 tanker fire — aided by Governor Josh Shapiro's emergency declaration, blank-check contracting, and round-the-clock crews — and why projects like the Trans-Manhattan Expressway languish for decades in red tape. Herschander argues the speed came from breaking rules that usually exist for good reasons, while Mike Carroll and experts like Stephanie Pollack and Don Moynihan weigh whether permitting reform, and Pennsylvania's newer emergency-style repairs, could make such urgency the norm rather than the exception.
