Renovated Bridge = New Toll?

From the BCCT.

Tolls not ruled out for bridge

By CHRIS ENGLISH
Bucks County Courier Times

Motorists might have to dig into their wallets or purses to cross the new Scudder Falls bridge when it's completed in several years.

A spokesman for the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, the group that owns and operates the I-95 bridge from Lower Makefield to Ewing, said making the new span a toll bridge hasn't been ruled out.

Pete Peterson said all options for funding the $250 million I-95/Scudder Falls bridge improvement project, or replenishing funds spent on the project, will be considered. The project, expected to start in 2011, includes a new bridge adjacent to the current one, two additional lanes on I-95 on the Pennsylvania side up to the Newtown exit, some improvements to I-95 on the New Jersey side and improvements to the bridge exits and entrances.

“We've submitted our environmental assessment of the project and, once that's reviewed and we get it back, we'll be going back to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to talk about different funding options,” said Peterson. “We'll also be looking for federal contributions. Everything is on the table, but it's probably premature to be talking about the possibility of a toll bridge until after we sit down and talk with the states and federal government about what level they can kick in to support the project.”

Peterson also said the commission won't grant Lower Makefield's request for additional sound muffling walls along I-95 in the township.

Peterson said the budget for sound barriers has been increased from $3 million to about $7 million. The Lower Makefield supervisors still want a little more to go toward muffling sound from the highway for a few more residents, but Peterson said bridge commission officials say they've already gone above and beyond and that's enough.

“We've gone 150 percent above what was required and that's sufficient at this point,” he said.

But Lower Makefield won't stop asking.

“We haven't gotten any formal response from them so we'll continue to advocate for additional sound barriers,” responded Lower Makefield Supervisor Steve Santarsiero. “We're not taking this as a final response and we'll continue to work to get those additional sound barriers.”

Santarsiero said he didn't like the idea of the new bridge possibly being a toll span.

“Personally, I would argue against that,” he said. “I can't speak for the entire board of supervisors. It's probably premature to talk about it. Once decisions are made on exactly how this project will unfold, then those other types of issues can be addressed.”

A draft environmental assessment that the bridge commission prepared for the project is being reviewed by the New Jersey and Pennsylvania departments of transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The environmental assessment is also being reviewed by federal and state environmental resource and regulatory agencies with regard to project findings, assessments and mitigation for environmental considerations, including historical and archeological resources, threatened and endangered species and wetlands, among others.

The Federal Highway Administration is the agency ultimately responsible for reviewing the environmental assessment and determining whether it's acceptable and can be distributed for public examination and comment during a 30-day period that would include a public hearing.

Once the assessment is approved, the project would enter its final design phase, probably next year and in 2010, said Peterson. The latest timeline, always subject to change, has construction starting sometime in 2011, he said.

While final decisions haven't been made on exactly how the project will be built, the bridge commission's recommended preferred alternative has the following elements:

Widen I-95 in Pennsylvania to the Newtown exit by adding one lane in each direction. The additional lanes would be taken from the grass median separating the northbound and southbound sides of the highway.

Reconfigure the Taylorsville Road interchange in Lower Makefield by eliminating the eastern southbound off-ramp from I-95 and combining it with the western southbound off-ramp. All other ramps at the interchange would be retained with minor alignment modifications. This part of the project also includes other improvements, including changes to I-95 acceleration and deceleration lanes to improve traffic safety and flow.

Replace the Scudder Falls bridge with a new span just slightly upstream. The new bridge would have five lanes northbound [three for through traffic and two for auxiliary entry/exit] and four lanes southbound [three for through traffic and one for auxiliary entry/exit]. This part of the project also calls for full inside and outside shoulders. Bicycle and pedestrian lanes on the southbound side of the bridge are also being considered and a decision will be made during final design.

Reconstruct and reconfigure the Route 29 interchange through the use of roundabouts.

For more information, call the project hot line, 800-879-0849, or visit www.scudderfallsbridge.com or www.drjtbc.org. on the Web.