Severe Traffic Warning Issued For Scudder Falls Bridge

UPDATE: The work has been postponed as a result of the recent stretch of wet weather.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is warming motorists who use I-295 northbound in Ewing, N.J. for travel to Pennsylvania across the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge to avoid the busy roadway segment between 2 and 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7.

I-295 NB (PA-bound) will be reduced to a single lane (one travel lane instead of three lanes) after the CR-579/Bear Tavern Road interchange (Exit 75) in Ewing for an uninterrupted “high-intensity construction cycle” (HICC) starting approximately 10 a.m. Friday and ending by sometime Saturday night.

While the single-lane pattern may cause some delays and backups at any time, the most severe congestion is expected to occur late Friday afternoon and early Friday night. During this peak evening commuting period, traffic queuing of two miles or more is likely with corresponding travel delays of an hour or more.

Due to these possible severe traffic conditions, the commission is urging affected Pennsylvania-bound commuters who travel on I-295 NB to the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge to consider three options for avoiding evening-peak travel delays on Friday:

• Work from home on Friday, if possible;
• Reschedule evening commutes to a less-congested travel period; or
• Use the Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1) Toll Bridge as an alternative travel route Friday evening.

The commission recommends that commuters avoid the nearby Washington Crossing Bridge upstream along the river and Calhoun Street Bridge downstream along the river because both of those crossing are always congested in the Pennsylvania-bound direction on weekday evenings.

The rare around-the-clock single-lane travel pattern on I-295 NB is needed so work crews can address a road-surface bump on an approach bridge that crosses over NJ Route 175, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and the NJ Route 29 northbound bypass lane on the New Jersey side of the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge. The bump is in the two right lanes of I-295 NB, accounting for the upcoming two-lane closure. Motorists complained to the Bridge Commission about the bump for several months.

The upcoming corrective work will involve wet-grinding of the bump followed by a series of preparatory steps for eventual application of a level polyester-polymer concrete (PPC) wearing layer over the underlying grinded concrete bed. The PPC application will need to cure sufficiently before the two closed travel lanes can be reopened to traffic sometime on Saturday.

While the planned closures of two I-295 NB lanes will restrict PA-bound access to the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge, the exit and entry ramps at the I-295/NJ Route 29 interchange (Exit 76) will remain open. I-295 SB also will be unaffected by the PA-bound road-surface work and shall remain fully open.

The scheduled travel restrictions are subject to change due to weather, emergency, traffic, and equipment/materials mobilization considerations. Motorists are urged to allow extra time to reach their destinations, reduce speeds and exercise caution when traveling through project work areas.