Commission Takes Major Step In Deciding Future Of Crossing Bridge

WASHINGTON CROSSING, PA — The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission on Monday hired an international engineering firm to conduct a multi-year environmental review to help determine whether the 119-year-old Washington Crossing Toll-Supported Bridge should be replaced.

The commission awarded the $8 million contract to HDR Engineering, Inc. of Philadelphia to carry out a process that will include preliminary engineering, environmental services, alternatives analysis, public involvement, documentation, and other services following the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

In awarding the contract, the commission said the goal of the process will be to "improve mobility and provide a safe and reliable river crossing for vehicles and pedestrians while ensuring the continued viability of businesses near the current bridge."

According to the commission, a key objective in the NEPA process will be the compilation and issuance of an environmental document identifying a “preferred alternative” for the Washington Crossing Bridge location. Alternative approaches to a new bridge are expected to include – but not limited to - rehabilitating the current bridge, improving the bridge’s New Jersey approach roadway alignment, or doing nothing at all.

If the environmental review process were to identify a complete bridge replacement as the “preferred alternative” and that designation were to result in a favorable decision document from an applicable federal lead agency, then – and only then – could the commission pursue possible design and construction of a prospective new bridge, the commission said.

“Today’s contract award is a step forward toward determining what approach the commission should take with its aging, limited-capacity, safety-challenged Washington Crossing Bridge and its inherently poor customer-experience profile,” said the commission's executive director Joe Resta. “This environmental review will take years to complete. It’s a first step strictly limited to research and analysis. It does not authorize the hiring of a contractor and it certainly does not authorize design and construction of a new bridge.”

The current Washington Crossing Bridge has been a bane to generations of motorists, said Resta, noting that it is the "narrowest of the commission’s 18 vehicular bridges, with a 15-foot-wide roadway that can force motorists to a crawl in 7.5-foot-wide lanes - one in each direction."

(Photo by Jeff Werner)

Motorists have frequently reported instances of broken side view mirrors while crossing the bridge, the commission said. Also, in recent years, the commission said its public safety personnel have experienced an uptick of confrontational incidents with drivers of oversized vehicles attempting to cross the narrow, weight-restricted structure.

The commission said the oversized-vehicle problem has been an issue in both directions at the bridge – not just the Pennsylvania-bound direction, which is the toll direction at the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge 2-1/2 miles downstream. One of the most notable incidents happened in March 2023, when an Amazon tractor-trailer smashed into the bridge from the Pennsylvania side and became lodged beneath the bridge’s sign gantry. The collision forced an emergency morning rush closure and caused considerable damage to the bridge’s walkway and sign gantry.

The bridge, which predates mass production of automobiles, was constructed in 1904-05 for a locally owned cash-strapped private company that charged tolls to cross it in either direction by horse, vehicle, or on foot, according to the commission. The bridge’s steel predates later 20th-century metallurgic advances.

While the commission said the bridge has been the "bane to generations of motorists," officials in Upper Makefield have raised "grave concerns" over any plans to replace the bridge fearing its impact on the village of Washington Crossing and the national treasure that is Washington Crossing Historic Park. Many have attended recent commission and township meetings to voice their opposition.

"We don't want to see something that is destructive or will destroy or negatively affect the village of Washington Crossing," said Supervisor Tom Cino who joined the board of supervisors in March in passing a resolution against any plans to replace the bridge. "We may have some disagreement on how to get there and how to approach it, but we're all on the same page. Every comment I've heard, everyone seems to have that same vibe. This is a community that stands united in protection of our national treasure that we are blessed with protecting."

The commission said it believes a potential replacement of the bridge should be considered in addition to other possible alternatives that are “technically and economically feasible.” The examination of a possible new bridge and alternative approaches will be the crux of the NEPA-guided study and evaluation process of the next few years, the commission said.

The environmental services portion of this process is tasked with land use, socioeconomic and environmental justice impacts; wetland, watercourse, and floodplain impacts; hazardous and residual waste impacts; terrestrial and aquatic habitat impacts; threatened and endangered species impacts; cultural resources impacts; air quality impacts; noise receptors impacts; and community and facilities and services impacts.

The environmental review also will examine park and recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites as mandated under Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966.

The scope of research under the environment review includes travel-demand forecasting; crash analysis; geotechnical analysis; hydrology and hydraulic analysis; drainage, stormwater management and water quality.

The bridge’s historically significant location - between two state parks and where George Washington led a war-changing military crossing during harsh early-winter conditions on December 25, 1776 – also will be weighed. The NEPA-process consultant is required to evaluate and develop context-sensitive solutions in consideration of “the existing bridge site, surrounding towns, historical parks, and other impacted resources.”

A public involvement program, including a website, will be part of the NEPA process, according to the commission. There will be meetings with stakeholders, open houses, and hearings where the public at large will be afforded an opportunity to ask questions and relay comments and concerns, the commission said.

The review is expected to take an estimated 30 months to carry out, including receipt of a ruling from an applicable federal oversight agency. A 30-month time frame conceivably would take until 2027. But the process could always take longer than that, the commission said.

About the bridge

The current steel, double-Warren-truss Washington Crossing Bridge opened to traffic on April 11, 1905. It was constructed by the long defunct New Jersey Bridge Company of Manasquan, N.J.

The bridge carried 2,609,703 vehicles (both directions) in 2023. Its highest usage year was 2016 with 2,743,743 vehicular crossings

The bridge’s three-ton weight restriction has been in effect since 1995. It is enforced by bridge monitors stationed 24/7 at a shelter on the bridge’s New Jersey approach. More than 2,000 oversized vehicles were turned away at the bridge in 2023.