Commuter Alert: Routes 295, 29 ramps to close for bridge project

TRENTON — Commuters on Routes 295 and 29 will be greeted at the end of the long President's Day weekend with several ramp closures and detours at the Scudder Falls Bridge project.

The closures, in effect for 18 weeks, start Monday at 4 a.m. but most commuters won't be impacted until Tuesday when many return to work from the four-day weekend. The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission expects the closures to be lifted on June 24. The closure will allow for a new circle to be built on Route 29 at the ramps from Route 295 North.

A circle has been in use for several months near the bridge for traffic heading south on Route 29 from Route 295.

The project will culminate with the construction of a new bridge over the Delaware River. DRJTBC spokesman Joe Donnelly said tolling is expected to begin this summer for traffic leaving New Jersey but an exact start date has not been announced.

The tolls will be cashless and collected by E-ZPass only.

The three closures starting Monday are:

• I-295 southbound (former I-95 north) exit ramp to Route 29 northbound (first exit in New Jersey coming from Pennsylvania) Detour: Continue along I-295 South to Exit 73A (Scotch Road North), use the exit’s loop ramps to make a U-turn onto I-295 North for return to the Route 29 interchange (Exit 76) and the ramp to Route 29 North.
• I-295 northbound exit ramp (former I-95 south) to Route 29 southbound (last exit in New Jersey). Detour: Proceed across the Scudder Falls Bridge for a U-turn at the Taylorsville Road interchange (Exit 10) in Pennsylvania, taking I-295 South across the bridge for connection with Route 29 South via the first New Jersey exit ramp and the downstream circle.
• Route 29 southbound and northbound entry ramps to I-295 northbound  (former I-95 south)  (to get onto the Scudder Falls Bridge into Pennsylvania). Detour: Proceed into the downstream circle and use the ramp for I-295 South, proceed Exit 73A (Scotch Road North), use the exit’s loop ramps to make a U-turn onto I-295 North and travel across the bridge to I-295 West in Pennsylvania.

The 4.4-mile project stretching from Route 332 in Newtown, Pennsylvania, across the Delaware to Route 579 in Ewing is on schedule, according to Donnelly.

"It is the hardest and most complex stage and most aggressive of the three phases. The schedule is to open the first span of the completed bridge to traffic with tolls in the Pennsylvania-bound direction this summer and we're on track to do that."

According to the DRJTBC's project website, the toll will be $1.25 for cars. A commuter discount will be applied for those making 16 or more trips during a calendar month, reducing the toll to 75 cents.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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