Local News
MILFORD, PA – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced today that it plans to reopen both vehicular travel lanes on the Milford-Montague Toll Bridge by the close-of-business on Wednesday, May 20. The reopening means the bridge can once again provide unimpeded two-way travel as well as service wide- and permit loads.
The Commission also said all three lanes of the bridge’s new toll plaza will be operational and the bridge’s walkway will be reopened at the same time.
The occasion will mark the attainment of “substantial completion” on a $19.1 million bridge rehabilitation project that began construction in February 2008. The Commission sought to meet this major milestone in an effort to have the bridge reopened in time for the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend and the region’s summer tourism season.
“Weather permitting, all signs are that we should achieve this May 20 deadline,” said Frank G. McCartney, the Commission’s executive director. “We set a goal over a year ago to reopen the bridge in time for the summer season and we are right at the threshold of achieving that objective.”
Except for a suspension of bridge-deck rehabilitation activities during the 2008 summer tourism season, motorists using the bridge have encountered daily alternating lane closures on the bridge since March of last year. Also, the bridge’s walkway has been closed for the project’s duration as a safety measure. The Commission operated a shuttle service during the summer season last year to ferry pedestrians and bicyclists across the bridge.
The reaching of the substantial completion milestone does not mean the project is completed. “Punch-list” items and other minor tasks still need to be performed in the final weeks. Some of these could involve brief temporary closures of the bridge’s vehicular travel lanes or walkway.
The Milford-Montague rehabilitation project consisted of the replacement of the bridge's precast concrete deck panels, replacement of deteriorated supporting stringers and the blast-cleaning and painting of the entire steel superstructure. The project also included repairs or replacement of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey approaches, and installations of new signage installed on the bridge’s approaches.
The former toll plaza at the bridge has been replaced with a new facility that has two new mixed-mode toll booths for processing both cash and E-ZPass electronic transactions, and an additional single lane to handle only E-ZPass customers.
Like the other bridge rehabilitations the Commission has conducted in recent years, the Milford-Montague project was undertaken to improve the bridge’s condition so that can operate without needing lane closures for another 15 years.
The Milord-Montague project is the most expensive initiative to date to reach substantial completion under the Commission’s ongoing $950 million-plus capital improvement program. The Commission launched the program in 2001 with the multiple aims of preserving, enhancing, protecting and better managing its network of transportation and administrative facilities. In addition, the capital program is helping to improve driving conditions and reduce congestion of the Commission’s bridges and access roadways.
The Commission is making plans for a mid-July rededication ceremony at the Milford-Montague span. More details on that event will be announced when they become available.
The Milford-Montague Toll Bridge is the northern-most bridge in the Commission's 140-mile Delaware River jurisdiction. Located seven miles south of the New Jersey/New York state line, the bridge connects U.S. Route 206 at Montague, N.J. to U.S. Routes 6 and 209 at Milford, Pa. The bridge's average daily traffic volume was 8,400 vehicles in 2008.
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