FRENCHTOWN, NJ – The Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Toll-Supported Bridge’s walkway is scheduled to be shut down for several months starting Monday, March 17, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced today.
The closure means that pedestrians and bicyclists will be unable to cross the bridge until a new widened walkway gets installed later this year as part of a rehabilitation project now underway at the bridge. At this time, the goal is to get the walkway replacement work completed in time for Frenchtown’s Riverfest, an annual street fair held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.
(Note: Monday’s walkway closure is subject to change due to severe weather, emergencies, and other factors.)
The bridge’s current walkway has a concrete-filled steel-grid surface with tubular anodized aluminum railings. The effective clearance along the walkway is 3 feet 9 inches wide.
Under the project, the walkway will be replaced with a wider system of slip-resistant foam-core fiber-reinforced-polymer (FRP) panels and new hand railings. The new surface will be 5-feet wide, 1 foot 3 inches wider than the current facility. This additional width is expected to help pedestrians walking in opposite directions to pass each other on the walkway. It also should ease passage of cyclists walking their bicycles across the walkway – a Commission requirement.
The upcoming walkway closure is part of a series of preparations that the Commission’s project contractor is undertaking to prepare the bridge for painting, repairs, improvements this year. The contractor is currently in the throes of installing temporary work platforms/debris-containment systems below and above the bridge’s roadway deck. An uninterrupted nine-month-long detour of Pennsylvania-bound traffic at the bridge went into effect February 20. Some limited-duration detours of New Jersey-bound traffic also will be needed periodically later on during the project.
A project-specific webpage has been established on the Commission’s website and may be accessed directly through this link: https://www.drjtbc.org/project/frenchtownbridge.
