EASTON, PA. – The Northampton Street Toll-Supported Bridge (colloquially referred to as the Easton-Phillipsburg “free bridge”) is scheduled to be restricted to single travel lanes in each direction (one of three lanes closed) 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday. Oct. 16, and Tuesday, Oct. 17. Backups and travel delays are possible, especially during late-afternoon and evening hours.
The travel restrictions will allow work crews to troubleshoot a variety of issues related to the new programmable color-changing LED lighting system that has been installed to highlight the bridge’s unique profile between Easton, PA. and Phillipsburg, N.J. The completion of the lighting system is the last uncompleted task of the Northampton Street Toll-Supported Bridge Rehabilitation Project, which began in late 2021 and reached substantial completion in November 2022.
To help mitigate possible backups or delays at the weight-restricted 127-year-old bridge, the Commission urges New Jersey-bound motorists to use the nearby Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22) Toll Bridge as an alternate travel route whenever possible. Tolls are not charged in the New Jersey-bound direction at the toll bridge.
The 550-foot-long, 36-foot-wide bridge is the Commission’s busiest non-toll crossing. The bridge has a three-ton weight limit and a 15-mph speed limit. Bridge monitors are stationed at each end of the bridge on a 24/7 basis to prevent crossings of overweight vehicles. More information on the Northampton Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project is available on the Commission website. The direct webpage link is: www.drjtbc.org/project/freebridge.
About the Commission
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission was formed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in 1934 and its federal Compact was first approved by Congress in August 1935. The agency operates eight toll bridges and 12 toll-supported bridges, two of which are pedestrian-only spans. The Commission is a self-supporting public-service agency that receives neither federal nor state tax dollars to finance its projects or operations. Funding for the operations, maintenance and upkeep of its bridges and related transportation facilities is solely derived from revenues collected at its toll bridges. The Commission’s jurisdiction extends along the Delaware River from the Philadelphia-Bucks County line north to the New Jersey/New York border. The bridges carried more than 128.1 million cars and trucks in 2022. For more information, please go to: www.drjtbc.org.
