Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project

Project Construction Update

Stage 1 construction activities were fully underway throughout the 4.4-mile project area for the Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project during the summer of 2017.  Earlier in the year, construction crews completed the installation of noise walls at warranted locations in Lower Makefield, PA. and carried out a string of project preparations including roadway signage, early excavation and establishment of equipment storage areas and construction sites.

The project’s main construction contract is expected to proceed over a 4-1/2-year period ending in summer-fall 2021. Work was progressing at the following locations within the project area as of August 2017:

Construction activities related to the Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project have expanded to multiple work sites within the 4.4 project area between two states.  The preponderance of work takes place during daytime hours, but some activities must be conducted during nighttime hours due to traffic/safety considerations.  Current work locations and activities are as follows:

• Route 332/Newtown-Yardley interchange (Exit 49) – Excavation and construction of storm-water retention basin with corresponding drainage and erosion-control devices in the sprawling infield of the northbound I-95 exit ramp.
• I-95 northbound PA segment – Installation and anchoring of concrete construction barrier along entire left side of shifted traffic pattern.
• PA I-95 highway median – Removal of top soil and early-stage excavation for areas needing retaining wall.
• Taylorsville Road/Yardley-New Hope interchange (Exit 51) – Temporary entry lane from Taylorsville Road southbound to I-95 north in effect; drainage basin construction.
• Woodside Road (Lower Makefield, PA) – Top soil removal and excavation for roadway widening west of Taylorsville Road.
• Pennsylvania side of replacement bridge (vicinity of River and Woodside roads) – Continuing construction of bulkhead/launching point for temporary trestle causeway that will be used to install temporary cofferdams for new bridge piers in the Delaware River; mobilizing materials and equipment for Pennsylvania trestle causeway, the Pennsylvania abutment for the upstream span of the replacement bridge and exit ramp piers; installing drilled shafts and steel piles for abutment and piers.
• New Jersey side of replacement bridge – Land-based portion of temporary trestle causeway nearing completion; mobilizing equipment and materials for extending trestle causeway into the river and installing cofferdam for land-based New Jersey pier; and mobilize for support of excavation and piling at the New Jersey abutment for upstream span of the new bridge.
• I-95/Route 29 interchange (Exit 1) – Earthwork activities for various temporary ramps and install temporary drainage and erosion-control devices at various locations within in the interchange.
• Route 175/River Road (Ewing, NJ) – Utility relocation work in the vicinity of the I-95 approach bridge to the current Scudder Falls Bridge and the nearby onramp to I-95 northbound.
• I-95 southbound NJ segment – Excavation/drilling work for additional noise-abatement walls along the roadway.

The project will be carried out in stages.  Stage 1 will center on the construction of the first span of the new bridge immediately upstream of the current Scudder Falls Bridge.  This upstream span initially will carry two lanes of traffic in each direction, beginning in early 2019.

The current bridge will then be demolished to allow for construction of a second, downstream span immediately south of the upstream span.  When both spans are completed, the upstream span will carry only southbound traffic and the downstream span will carry only northbound traffic.

The current bridge will remain open to traffic the first stage of construction (2017 to early 2019).  Two travel lanes will be maintained in the peak direction during high-volume commuter traffic periods (northbound in the mornings and southbound in the evenings).  Motorists, however, may encounter slight delays and periodic detours and lane shifts at the bridge’s flanking interchanges (Exit 1/Route 29 in New Jersey and Exit 51/Taylorsville Road in Pennsylvania).

Upon completion of the replacement bridge’s upstream span, toll collection will begin in the southbound direction only.  An all-electronic toll (AET) collection system consisting of E-ZPass transponder readers and high-speed cameras (Toll-by-Plate) affixed to an overhead gantry will collect tolls at highway speeds from motorists traveling from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.  The AET collection system is expected to go online by mid-2019.

Preparations for the project were initiated in early 2003 and culminated with the June 14, 2012 issuance of a pivotal Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).  The FHWA’s determination validated the project’s extensive environmental documentation (Environmental Assessment and Addendum to the Environmental Assessment) compiled by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and its project management team.

Note: A concise memo on the traffic diversion findings in the EA Addendum may be viewed here.

With the FHWA’s action in 2012, project preparations shifted to updating of project right-of-way plans, identification and execution of priority work items in anticipation of design and construction, and delivery of retrieved unearthed archaeological materials to state museums in Harrisburg and Trenton.

The Commission formally moved the project into the final design phase in early 2015.  This action followed the completion of a system-wide investment-grade (Level III) traffic and revenue study in 2014 and a reconfirmation that the project would be executed as a conventional design-bid-build project.

The multi-element project is projected to cost $439 million, according to estimates compiled during the latter stages of the final design process in 2016.  (This figure represents the all-in cost and includes construction, concept plans, final design, environmental documentation and all other previous and projected expenditures.)

The project involves much more than a replacement of the current functionally obsolete four-lane Scudder Falls Bridge.  The project also will include safety upgrades to the two highway interchanges at both ends of the bridge, widening of I-95 to the inside from the bridge to Route 322 in Pennsylvania, and construction of shoulders on the bridge crossing to handle breakdowns and emergencies.  The two inside shoulder lanes would have the capacity to serve proposed bus/rapid transit routes.  The Commission also has announced that it will install a bike/pedestrian walkway on the bridge’s upstream side to connect canal paths on both sides of the river and install noise walls where warranted.

The project’s main elements are as follows:

• Widen I-95 in Pennsylvania from PA 332 to the inside by adding one travel lane in each direction through utilization of the current grass median along that roadway stretch.
• Reconfigure the Taylorsville Road Interchange in Lower Makefield Twp., Pa. by eliminating the existing eastern southbound off-ramp from I-95 and combining it with the existing western southbound off-ramp. All other existing ramps at the interchange — the northbound off-ramp, the two northbound on-ramps, and the southbound on-ramp — would be retained with minor alignment modifications. This work will be enhanced by other improvements, including modifications to the I-95 acceleration and deceleration lanes to improve traffic safety and flow in the interchange area.
• Replace the existing outdated four-lane Scudder Falls Bridge with an entirely new dual-span structure.  The new bridge will carry six lanes of through traffic (three in each direction) with two auxiliary northbound lanes for entry/exit travel and one auxiliary southbound lane entry/exit travel. The new bridge also will have full inside and outside roadway shoulders, as required by federal design standards.
• A bicycle and pedestrian facility will be included on the north side of the bridge’s upstream span.
• Reconstruct and reconfigure the Route 29 interchange through the use of roundabouts. This option will avoid traffic signals, resulting in a folded diamond interchange with two roundabout intersections at the ramps with I-95. Bypasses for NJ Route 29 northbound and southbound traffic would be retained and improved acceleration and deceleration lanes will be provided on to I-95. The stop-sign at the southbound I-95 on-ramp will be eliminated.

In December 2009, the Commission voted to establish cashless tolling for the Scudder Falls Replacement Bridge.  The action was taken due to the absence of federal and state transportation support for the project.

Tolling at the new bridge will be conducted through an “all-electronic tolling” (AET) system.  A conventional barrier toll plaza will not be built.  AET allows motorists to travel at prevailing speeds without having to stop to pay the toll.  Non-E-ZPass-equipped vehicles passing through the cashless toll system will be subject to video capture by the camera equipment mounted on an overhead gantry; the DRJTBC will send a bill to the vehicle’s registered owner to collect the Toll-by-Plate toll.  Tolls for E-ZPass customers will be lower than the rates for Toll-by-Plate customers, which will have higher administrative costs.  (To see the approved toll schedule for the new bridge, please the tolling page in the documents section of the Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project’s website — www.scudderfallsbridge.com.  The page may be directly accessed here.  It is scheduled take effect when the first span of the new bridge opens to traffic in early 2019.)

Tolling will be in the southbound direction only (entering Pennsylvania).  This one-direction toll collection is consistent with all other DRJTBC toll bridges where tolls are charged for traffic crossing from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

Tolling at the Scudder Falls Replacement Bridge ensures that its users shoulder the cost burden of the project’s significant transportation-infrastructure and safety improvements.