Last chance to comment on tolls for new Scudder Falls bridge

Tuesday will be the last day to comment on plans to charge a toll for crossing the new Scudder Falls Bridge across the Delaware River. 

The public comment period was extended a week because of lackluster response, said Joe Donnelly of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

“We’ve had a smattering comment, so we are trying to get more,” he said.

A public outreach campaign to explain the electronic tolling will start when the new bridge is closer to opening, replacing a span that is currently free to cross. The bridge connects Ewing, New Jersey, with Lower Makefield in Pennsylvania.

Explainer: How the Scudder Falls Bridge will be replaced in phases

“The toll schedule is a proposal, and the commissioners aren’t expected to be voting on it until the end of September,” Donnelly said. “So it’s not a foregone conclusion. However, if it does go into place, it wouldn’t be until sometime early in 2019, so that’s some time away.”

The proposal calls for passenger car tolls to start at 75 cents for motorists with E-ZPass and go up to $2.60 for drivers without transponders.