Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project

Advance preparations for the project currently are underway along the bridge’s I-95 Pennsylvania approach during fall 2016, as construction crews install noise walls at warranted locations in Lower Makefield, PA.

The project’s main construction contract is expected to get fully underway in the first half of 2017, with construction taking place in three major stages spread across three to four years.

The replacement bridge will consist of an upstream span to be constructed immediately north of the existing bridge.  This span will initially 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 in early 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.  (See the travel section of this website for the Scudder Falls Replacement Bridge’s toll schedule that will go into 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 charge 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.