Scudder Falls Bridge Toll Increase Hearing Thursday In Bucks County

Want to weigh in on the toll schedule proposed for the Scudder Falls Bridge on I-95? Mark your calendar for Thursday.

That's when the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will hold a public hearing in Yardley on the proposed tolls. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at William Penn Middle School, 1524 Derbyshire Rd., Yardley. An informational open house on the bridge project will be held before the hearing at 4:30 p.m.

Tolls to cross the Scudder Falls Bridge on I-95 would be as much as $2.60 under a new proposal released last week by the the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The toll schedule is projected to take effect in 2019, when the first span of the new bridge is expected to open.

The bridge connects Mercer County, N.J. to Bucks County, PA via I-95.

If approved in late September by the Commission's board of directors after a series of public hearings, tolls would be:

• $1.25 for passenger vehicles with E-ZPass
• $2.60 for Toll-by-Plate passenger vehicles without E-ZPass
• $0.75 cents for commuters who make at least 16 tolled trips per month using a Commission-affiliated E-ZPass tag.

Tolls will be charged to southbound drivers via an all-electronic toll (AET) collection system of E-ZPass tag readers and high-resolution cameras.

Five more public hearings will be held for the public to weigh in on the proposed toll schedule. The Commission will also host open houses regarding the Scudder Falls Bridge Replacement Project immediately before the two toll hearings.

Here is the schedule:

• July 21, 2016, William Penn Middle School, 1524 Derbyshire Rd., Yardley. Informational project open house 4:30 p.m.; toll hearing 6 p.m.
• Aug. 2, 2016, Holiday Inn Express, 90 Kunkle Dr., Easton. Toll hearing 6 p.m.
• Aug. 4, 2016, Early Childhood Learning Center, 459 Center St., Phillipsburg. Toll hearing 6 p.m.
• Aug. 9, 2016, High Point Golf Club, 342 Shore Dr., Montague. Toll hearing 6 p.m.
• Aug. 11, 2016 East Stroudsburg University Innovation Center, 562 Independence Rd., East Stroudsburg. Toll hearing 6 p.m.

Can't make the meeting?

You can provide comment on the proposed toll changes by emailing communityaffairs@drjtbc.org, contacting www.drjtbc.org/comment or mailing a letter to Director of Community Affairs Jodee Inscho, DRJTBC Executive Offices, 2492 River Rd., New Hope, PA. 18938.