PA & NJ Turnpikes Seek Feedback As They Consider Rehab Or Replacement Of Delaware River Bridge

The Delaware River Bridge in 2017. Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and New Jersey Turnpike Authority are looking at rehabilitation and replacement options for the existing Delaware River Bridge that connects Bristol Township to Burlington County, New Jersey.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on Wednesday launched a public survey to gather feedback on a “range of alternatives for rehabilitation or replacement of the bridge” that is 70 years old.

The Keystone State and Garden State turnpike agencies are asking drivers and residents to fill out the survey as they look at options for the span and seek to ease congestion.

The bridge was designated I-95 from the turnpike after the Pennsylvania Turnpike/I-95 interchange project was completed in Bristol Township in 2018. There are more phases planned to finish up work to make I-95 continuous on the East Coast, decades after it was planned.

“The feedback provided through the public survey will inform the project team of the interests and concerns of the communities in and around the study area and the commuters who use the bridge regularly. The public survey includes sections on accessibility, project concerns and opportunities and preferences for communications and engagement in the project,” turnpike officials said.

The survey is estimated to take five minutes to complete and closes on January 3, 2025.

Printed copies of the survey are also available on the survey page or can be requested at DelawareRiverBridge@paturnpike.com or 717-831-7279. Requests for translated versions of the printed survey can be made to the e-mail above.

According to officials, people who complete the survey and provides contact information will be entered into a giveaway for one of 10 Visa gift cards that are valued at $50 each.

There are plans to have the survey results shared at public meetings in early 2025.

The two turnpike agencies are in the Preliminary Engineering Phase, which is expected to last until 2027.

After that phase, the design team will work on the final plans and expect to have them completed in 2031.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and New Jersey Turnpike Authority is working with the Federal Highway Administration on the project.

“As part of the federal requirements, the agencies are updating the 2003 environmental clearance documents due to the passage of time, regulatory changes, and potential changes to the selected alternative following the discovered fracture and bridge closure in 2017. The project study area includes Bristol Borough and Bristol Township in Bucks County (PA), and Burlington Township and Florence Township in Burlington County (NJ),” officials said.

In recent years, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has purchased at least two homes near the bridge on the Bristol Township side of the river. Other properties near the bridge have been owned by the commission since the 1950s, according to Bucks County property records.

In the early 2000s, there was a plan looked at to build a second bridge to carry eastbound traffic and the existing span would carry westbound vehicle.

A fracture of a bridge truss in 2017 caused a weeks-long closure as it was repaired.

The bridge is estimated by turnpike officials to carry 67,000 vehicles across it each day.

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