December 12, 2008

Contact: Joe Donnelly or Pete Peterson
215-862-7693 or 215-893-4297

MILFORD, PA - The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced today that the Milford-Montague Toll Bridge will be completely closed to all traffic for at least one 15-minute interval - and perhaps more - between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 16.

The rare scheduled closure, which also applies to emergency service vehicles, is required to provide for the replacement of a piece of deteriorated steel on the bridge. The bridge has been undergoing an extensive rehabilitation since early this year.

Tuesday's closure marks the first time during the project that emergency vehicles will be restricted from the bridge. It also is one of the only times that a scheduled shutdown of the bridge is to take place on the bridge.

Under the construction contract for the bridge's rehabilitation, random shutdowns of the bridge can occur from time to time for up to 15-minute durations between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and for maximum 30-minute durations between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays. But in those instances, the contractor is able to accommodate emergency vehicles. When closures arise, work crews are required to clear the traffic queues between the bridge closings.

The Milford-Montague rehabilitation project consists of the replacement of the bridge's precast concrete deck panels, replacement of deteriorated supporting stringers and the blast-cleaning and painting the entire steel superstructure. The Pennsylvania and New Jersey approaches and shoulders will be repaired and/or replaced and additional signage will be installed on the approaches. The existing toll plaza is also being replaced with two new booths and a dedicated E-ZPass lane. The total cost for the project is $19.1 million and it is expected to be substantially complete by Memorial Day 2009.

Members of the public who may have questions or concerns about the project are urged to call a specific phone hotline number the Commission has established to handle such inquiries - 1-888-203-7690.

The Milford-Montague Toll Bridge is the northern-most bridge crossing the Delaware River under the Commission's 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 was 8,400 vehicles in 2007.

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. It operates seven toll bridges and 13 toll-supported bridges, two of which are pedestrian-only spans. The Commission's jurisdiction extends 137 miles along the Delaware River from the Philadelphia-Bucks County line north to the New Jersey/New York border. The bridges carried more than 141 million cars and trucks in 2007. For more information about the Commission and its various initiatives to deliver safer and more convenient bridge travel for its customers, please see: www.drjtbc.org.