Wrightstown Joins Upper Makefield In Opposing Replacement Of Bridge

WRIGHTSTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Wrightstown Township is joining its neighbor, Upper Makefield, in opposing plans to replace the Washington Crossing Bridge, which spans the Delaware River between Upper Makefield, Pa., and Hopewell, New Jersey.

At its work session this week, the supervisors approved a resolution opposing the replacement of the 1904 bridge and will be sending copies to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, Upper Makefield, Newtown Township and to its county, state and national representatives.

Earlier this year, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, which owns and operates the toll-supported free bridge, published a request for proposals for engineering and environmental studies in support of replacing the span and announced plans to begin studying the potential replacement of the bridge.

The announcement prompted an immediate response from Upper Makefield, which passed a resolution opposing any plans to replace the bridge and launched an effort to designate the bridge as historic, hiring a consultant to secure the designation.

Wrightstown's resolution contains much of the same language as its neighbor's, citing a number of reasons why replacing the bridge "isn't a good idea," including its impact on Washington Crossing Historic Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the small, quaint village of Washington Crossing, which "could not accommodate the traffic flows that a larger, wider bridge will generate."

It notes that the bridge's current weight limit restricts traffic to passenger vehicles, relieving pedestrians of sharing the streets of the colonial village with oversized industrial vehicles.

"Widening the bridge will increase traffic exponentially, endangering pedestrians in the village," the resolution reads. "Allowing truck traffic on the bridge will not only imperil pedestrians, it will contribute noise and exhaust in the village. The safety and serenity of Washington Crossing would be sacrificed at the foot of a widened, modern bridge."

The resolution also raises concerns over the impact a new span would have on flooding, noting that "increasing the size of the bridge and the bridge abutments would exacerbate the flooding threat to the communities along the Delaware River."

In its resolution, Wrightstown offers a less costly alternative, suggesting that the commission keep the existing bridge but make it one way with traffic signals on either side of the bridge controlling a staggered traffic flow across the bridge.

"Upper Makefield is concerned for all the reasons stated in the resolution," said Wrightstown Chairman Chester Pogonowski. "If the bridge commission were to replace the bridge, they wouldn't be able to replace the bridge in kind so if they replace that bridge in the existing location we're talking about two lanes in both directions.

"It would be a major expansion of the bridge, which means a major expansion of traffic going over that bridge being dumped into Washington Crossing," said Pogonowski.