PA Turnpike Seeks To Replace Or Repair Bridge Over Delaware River

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The future of the PA Turnpike toll bridge over the Delaware River is the topic of several community meetings this week in Lower Bucks County and New Jersey.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and New Jersey Turnpike Authority are holding several public open houses to discuss options for the 70-year-old Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge that connects Bristol Township in Bucks County and Burlington Township in Burlington County, N.J., and the two state turnpikes.

The bridge, which carries 67,000 vehicles a day, needs repairs or replacement, turnpike officials said.

Here is the meeting schedule this week:

• A virtual meeting on Zoom takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Click here to register
• The Pennsylvania In-Person Public Meeting Open House takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School at 6401 Mill Creek Road in Levittown.
• The New Jersey In-Person Public Meeting Open House takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Florence Township Municipal Building at 711 Broad Street in Florence.

Turnpike officials said each meeting will share the same information with a turnpike project team available to answer questions. Meeting materials can be reviewed on the project website through Nov. 14.

“This series of meetings will provide the public with updates on the project, the results of the alternatives analysis, the proposed alternatives to be studied in the SEIS, potential environmental impacts, future public involvement opportunities, and next steps,” turnpike officials said in a statement.

The project study area includes Bristol Borough and Bristol Township, and Burlington and Florence townships in Burlington County, N.J.

Turnpike officials said that any bridge work would not take place until 2031.

Officials hope to bolster the bridge and reduce traffic congestion that has increased since the span joined Interstate 95 when an interchange project in Bristol Township was completed in 2018.

The bridge is operated in a partnership between the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.