The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission recently issued the Press Release below announcing that the Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge is scheduled to be reduced to a single alternating travel lane during off-peak weekday hours over the next two weeks..
Alternating Single-Lane Travel Scheduled for Next Two Weeks
At Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge
Aging, Narrow, Operationally Challenged Structure to Undergo Detailed Inspections as an Initial Step in National Environmental Policy Act Review Process
WASHINGTON CROSSING – The Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge is scheduled to be reduced to a single alternating travel lane controlled by flaggers during off-peak weekday
hours over the next two weeks, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced
today.
The single alternating travel lane restriction will be in effect 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
Sept. 3, to Friday, Sept. 6, next week, and on Monday, Sept. 9, to Friday, Sept. 13, the following
week – weather permitting.
Although these are low-traffic-volume hours, motorists could experience brief delays. Drivers
using the bridge are urged to exercise caution and be prepared to stop for flaggers controlling
traffic movements on the bridge.
The travel restriction will allow engineers to conduct a detailed assessment of the bridge’s
structural members, supports, and connections.
The Commission has initiated an alternatives analysis for the bridge in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The federal act requires gathering of the most current
data on the structure for purposes of assessing various alternatives such as doing nothing to the
bridge, rehabilitating it, replacing it, or reusing it in a different manner.
The upcoming inspections will be more in-depth than the biennial inspection carried out at the
bridge earlier this year in accordance with the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge
Inspection Standards. In contrast, the upcoming detailed inspections will be integral to determining
what future course of action the Commission might take with the 119-year-old narrow
operationally challenged six-span steel superstructure and its 190-year-old rubble-filled masonry
piers built on wooden-crib foundations.
Motorists looking to avoid the bridge while inspections are taking place are encouraged to use the
Scudder Falls (I-295) Toll Bridge 2.5 miles to the south.
Notes: The travel restriction is subject to change due to weather, emergencies, traffic, and staffing
considerations. A toll-supported bridge like the one at Washington Crossing is free for the public’s
use, but the cost of operating and maintaining the bridge is funded by a portion of the tolls collected
at the Commission’s eight toll bridges.
About the Commission
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission was formed statutorily by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in 1934 and Congress ratified the arrangement under
the Compact Clause of U.S. Constitution in August 1935. The agency operates eight toll bridges
and 12 toll-supported bridges, two of which are pedestrian-only spans. The Commission is a selfsupporting public-service agency that receives neither federal nor state tax dollars to finance its
projects or operations. Funding for the operations, maintenance and upkeep of its bridges and
related transportation facilities is solely derived from revenues collected at its toll bridges. The
Commission’s jurisdiction extends along the Delaware River from the Philadelphia-Bucks County
line north to the New Jersey/New York border. More than 131.5 million cars and trucks crossed
Commission bridges in 2023. For more information, please go to: www.drjtbc.org.