traffic in 1979 while the section between I-95 and MacDade Boulevard opened to traffic in August 1988. The road opened between Chemical Road and Plymouth Road in August 1991 while the final section of I-476 between MacDade Boulevard and I-76 was opened in December 1991. An agreement in 1985 led to many environmental compromises in the road's design, including a downsized four-lane design south of PA 3 (although a part of the span between exits 9 and 5 has a third lane on the southbound side), ramp meters, and scenic route status, prohibiting the erection of advertisement billboards along the entire freeway portion. The Radnor Gateway Enhancement Strategy was implemented to install largescale sculpture elements by artist William P. Reimann, most notably the stone griffin and cairn at exit 13. While the redesigned highway was largely well-received, the constriction to four lanes has led to bottleneck conditions in the area, and many communities that originally opposed the road have now called for its widening. The Philadelphia Inquirer dubbed I-476 "the most costly, most bitterly opposed highway in Pennsylvania history" due to the decades of opposition it garnered. Plans to build an interchange connecting I-476 (Mid-County Expressway) to the Pennsylvania Turnpike were made; the turnpike commission approved a contract to build the interchange in March 1989. That June, a losing bidder decided to challenge the turnpike commission, saying it violated female and minority contracting rules regarding the percentage of these employees that were used for the project. Under this rule, bidders were supposed to have at least 12 percent of contracts to minority-owned companies and at least four percent to female-owned companies. The losing bidder had 12.4 percent of the contracts to minority companies and 4.2 percent to female-owned companies while the winning bidder had 6.1 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. The turnpike commission decided to rebid the contract but was sued by the original contractor. This dispute delayed the construction of the interchange. The contract was rebid in November 1989 after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania permitted it. The interchange between I-476 and the turnpike mainline was completed in November 1992; the ramps to the Northeast Extension opened a month later. An official ribbon-cutting took place on December 15, 1992. In the 2000s, the road underwent a rehabilitation project, including paving, bridge repair, and ramp maintenance of the entire length of the freeway between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The