The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) has announced current vehicular and pedestrian travel restrictions at the 120-year-old New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge must be extended several more months due to an unforeseen structural condition in one of the bridge’s six spans.
The bridge has been undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation project throughout much of this year. To carry out the project, a New Jersey-bound traffic detour has been in effect since late January and pedestrian crossings have been restricted to a temporary walkway on the bridge’s roadway deck since mid-July.
It originally was anticipated that the structure could be reopened this fall, with a return of two-way traffic on the bridge’s roadway deck and pedestrians using a soon-to-be-completed new walkway facility.
However, the discovery of a deteriorated critical structural connection in the bridge’s second span from the Pennsylvania side will force postponement of the walkway opening until sometime in December. Meanwhile, the current New Jersey-bound vehicular traffic detour will likely need to be extended into early 2025, when an uninterrupted two-week-long shutdown of the bridge would be implemented to fully repair the deteriorated structural connection.
“We understand the importance this bridge has to New Hope and Lambertville, and we are committed to resolving this issue as quickly and safely as possible,” said DRJTBC Executive Director Joe Resta. “The public’s safety and the bridge’s structural integrity are top priorities.”
Full details and impacts to the current bridge rehabilitation have been posted at https://www.drjtbc.org/project/newhopelambertville
