PHILLIPSBURG — The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) today announced the posting of a specific webpage for the programmable color-changing LED architectural lighting system on the agency’s Northampton Street Toll-Supported Bridge, colloquially referred to as Easton-Phillipsburg “free bridge.”
The webpage’s address is: https://www.drjtbc.org/bridge-info/northampton-street-bridge-lighting. It contains a basic overview about the lighting system and the bridge, the Commission’s policy for requesting lighting shows, requirements for making lighting requests, and an online lighting request form that organizations may use to request lighting displays.
Other information includes the annual schedule of pre-programmed lighting displays, a list of the bridge lighting system’s major components, and the attributes of the LED lighting system.
The Northampton Street Bridge is the first Commission river crossing to be completely outfitted with LED lights for purposes of highlighting the structure’s unique profile along the riverfronts of Easton and Phillipsburg. All totaled, the architectural lighting system consists of 825 individual LED lights.
(Note: The Commission’s Lower Trenton Toll-Supported Bridge also has LED display lighting, but that system is confined to the famous illuminated “Trenton Makes The World Takes” sign attached to two of the bridge’s five spans.)
Organizations interested in requesting special lighting displays should file at least 30 days in advance. Special programs would run from 30 minutes before sunset until 11 p.m., at which point the bridge lights would switch to a traditional white default setting until dawn. The bridge’s white default display may be adjusted to blue/yellow for the people of war-torn Ukraine or blue/white in support of Israel.
The sign lighting system will not be adjusted for personal events, birthdays, anniversaries, or other personal occasions. Major civic events and historic federal, state, and local anniversaries will be considered. All requested temporary adjustments to the lighting system must be in keeping with Commission values and conform to Commission standards of appropriateness and good taste. Lighting and animation decisions are at the DRJTBC’s sole discretion.
The rehabilitated bridge is scheduled to be rededicated Thursday evening with an inaugural show of the structure’s soon-to-be-completed LED lighting system. Technicians will be at work on the bridge lights tonight, with a single lane closure on the bridge’s New Jersey side starting at 5:30 p.m.
Shows already have been scheduled for November. On Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11, there will be red, white, and blue illumination. On Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 22, the bridge will have approximate colors of the Easton and Phillipsburg high schools for their traditional Thanksgiving Day football game. The colors of the football game’s winning team would then be displayed for the remainder of the holiday weekend, Nov. 23-26.
