Scudder Falls Bridge temporarily shutting one lane to support new span

Work continues to replace the Scudder Fall Bridge in the Trenton region. The lane closures will accommodate delivery of concrete to pave the road deck of the new bridge.

The the new span (left) of the Scudder Falls Bridge is expected to be open this summer. (Image via DRJTBC video)

The the new span (left) of the Scudder Falls Bridge is expected to be open this summer. (Image via DRJTBC video)

Morning commuters driving into Pennsylvania from New Jersey on the Scudder Falls Bridge on I-295 could face delays this week.

But officials assure that the temporary snarls will pay off in the summer.

Half the lanes of the bridge extending into Pennsylvania will close to accommodate continuing work to construct a new span, said Joe Donnelly of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

“We’re going to have — weather permitting — single lane travel in the New Jersey to Pennsylvania direction,” he said. “The single lane travel patterns are in the morning hours and are needed for deliveries of concrete for the road deck of the new bridge that is being built upstream of the current one.”

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Donnelly said the new bridge for the interstate — once called I-95 but now known as I-295 — will be finished in July.

“We don’t have a specific date, but we’re looking at July,” Donnelly said. “And that first span will open up in the Pennsylvania bound direction and tolls will be charged.”

While commuters cross the existing bridge at no charge, those with an E-ZPass transponder will have to pay  $1.25 on the new bridge, and the toll for other motorists will be $2.60. But the structure will not have toll booths,  so drivers will get a bill in the mail, based on where their car is registered.

The toll will be charged only on the New Jersey-to-Pennsylvania direction — as it is on the other toll bridges in the region.

Once the new span opens, the old one will be dismantled, and another bridge will be built to carry traffic from Pennsylvania into New Jersey.

Construction of the overall project is expected to take two years.

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