The Scudder Falls Shared-Use Path is a new multi-faceted facility along the Delaware River in Lower Makefield, PA., and Ewing, N.J. It includes a park-n-ride lot, a comfort station, an interpretive bridge display, and an active transportation network of paths, ramps and bridge walkways, providing direct connectivity between Pennsylvania’s Delaware Canal towpath and New Jersey’s Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath.

This new facility was constructed by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and is funded by the tolls the agency collects at its eight toll bridges. The Commission has committed to operating and maintaining the facility’s various components in perpetuity.

This new connectivity system was constructed under the Scudder Falls Administration Building Project and the 4-1/2-year-long Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project, which is now nearing completion along the I-295 corridor in Ewing, N.J. and Lower Makefield, PA.

* Note: The bridge walkways and ramps are 10-feet-wide with accompanying 4-foot-6-inch railing heights that meet Federal Highway Administration standards for integration of pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The new shared–use facility makes Scudder Falls the only river crossing in the Commission’s 20-bridge system where bicyclists can pedal across without dismounting. Fifteen of the Commission’s bridges currently provide some form of pedestrian access. However, for safety, liability, and logistical reasons, bicyclists must dismount and walk across these existing walkways.

The 0.86-mile-long Scudder Falls Shared-Use Path consists of the following:

• A 1,587-foot walkway* on the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge’s upstream span.
• An access ramp and concrete path extension to the D&R Feeder Canal towpath on the New Jersey side.
• An access ramp to the Delaware Canal towpath on the Pennsylvania side.
• Four scenic overlooks on the bridge walkway and access ramps.
• A recently installed pedestrian bridge* to facilitate safe crossings of pedestrians and bicyclists over the Delaware Canal.
• The 1799 House – a former stone residence that was adaptively re-used to serve as a trailhead comfort station in close proximity to the Delaware Canal towpath. A ramp provides access to this facility in compliance with the American Disabilities Act.
• Benches and a bicycle rack outside the 1799 House.
• An interpretive display consisting of one granite block and a bearing from the first Scudder Falls Bridge that was constructed in 1959 and removed from service in 2019.
• A 127-space park-n-ride lot near the intersection of Taylorsville and Woodside roads in Lower Makefield.
• Permeable asphalt paths connecting the pedestrian canal bridge, the 1799 House and the park-n-ride lot on the Pennsylvania side.

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The following restrictions and use guidelines apply only to the .86-mile-long Scudder Falls Shared-Use Path linking the canal towpaths that are in close proximity to the Delaware River in Ewing, N.J. and Lower Makefield, PA. and the new Scudder Falls (I-295) Toll Bridge.  The bridge and the shared-use facility are owned, operated, and administered by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC), a bistate federal compact agency established by the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 1934.  The construction, operation and maintenance of this new bi-state facility is funded strictly by the DRJTBC tollpayers.

The guidelines and restrictions apply to conduct on and within any portion of the Scudder Falls Shared-Use Path facility.  This includes the Commission-owned public park-n-ride lot and 1799 House comfort-station area off Woodside Road in Lower Makefield; the connector paths between and around those facilities; a pedestrian walkway across Pennsylvania’s Delaware Canal; the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge walkway, access ramps, and the pathway connection to New Jersey’s D&R Canal towpath.

The two canal towpaths are located in respective linear state parks operated by the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The parklands are open for public use from dawn to dusk.

Commission employees are trained and empowered to patrol the walkway. The State Police agencies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are contracted to provide law enforcement functions at the DRJTBC’s 20 bridges and related facilities.

The prohibitions and guidelines on this webpage are intended to promote public safety, mitigate potential conflicts among path users, and safeguard the operational and physical integrity of this public facility.  The listed guidelines and prohibitions on this page may be amended at any time.

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