Take a ride on I-95, December 1979, soon after it was opened through Center and South Philadelphia. Photos run from south to north.

Above, I-95 northbound just east of Broad Street interchange. The suspension bridge in the background is the Walt Whitman Bridge, which crosses the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.

Above, I-95 northbound near Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia.

Above, I-95 northbound approaching the tunnel cover near Penn's Landing in Center City. The tunnel has a south cover and a north cover, with the center cover not yet built. This depressed/tunneled section is about 1,700 feet long, it has 4 lanes each way for I-95, and 2-lane tubes on each side for ramps. The intent of the tunnel was to provide a landscaped park between the downtown and the waterfront. The suspension bridge in the background is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which crosses the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey.

Above, I-95 northbound approaching the tunnel cover near Penn's Landing in Center City.

Above, I-95 northbound at I-676 Vine Street Expressway interchange. The ramp merging at the right is eastbound I-676 to northbound I-95. That ramp didn't open until I-676 was completed in 1991. I-95 is elevated at this section, and in the median you can see the Spring Garden Street Station of the Frankford El.

The last photo below is the I-95 Girard Point Bridge.

Above, southbound on I-95 west of the Broad Street interchange in South Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Navy Yard is on the left, and the one-mile long Girard Point Bridge is in the distance. Actually, I-95 is an elevated viaduct for a considerable distance on either side of the bridge. You can see the expressway transitioning to a double-decked design, and rising to provide about 130 feet of vertical clearance over the mouth of the Schuylkill River. I-95 had four lanes on each deck when I took this picture in 1978. Sometime perhaps in the late 1980s, each deck was restriped to three lanes with full emergency shoulders on the right and left. I-95 from the Walt Whitman Bridge to Enterprise Avenue was opened in 1976; this section includes the Girard Point Bridge.