First Week With Open Scudder Falls Interchanges Underway

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — Monday marked the start of the first work week during which exit and entry ramps in the area of the new Scudder Falls Bridge span were reopened to the public.

The five-week transition period, during which crews worked to bring the new bridge into service with realignments of Interstate 295 and its entry and exit ramps ended on Friday.

The new temporary realignment of I-295 through the Scudder Falls corridor area is expected to remain in place well into next year, according to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

The new traffic alignment is letting crews work to dismantle the old, "functionally obsolete" Scudder Falls Bridge and start work on a second replacement span, which will largely go over that old bridge's footprint.

Officials with the commission said Friday's openings "should improve weekday morning job commuting from Pennsylvania to New Jersey for the first time in three weeks."

"It also should relieve some of the construction-related traffic diversion that has spilled over to other nearby river bridges," officials said.

There will still be some intermittent closures in the bridge's area this week, though. Here's what to expect, according to the commission:

• I-295 EB approaching the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge and continuing across the bridge to NJ where the designation becomes I-295 SB – Off-peak intermittent single-lane travel – if needed for construction activities – 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. (next day) Monday, Aug. 19, through Friday, Aug. 23.
• Taylorsville Road north of I-295 – Intermittent single-lane patterns with possible flagger-controlled travel 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, to Friday, Aug. 23.
• Taylorsville Road south of I-295 – Intermittent single-lane patterns with possible flagger-controlled travel 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, to Friday, Aug. 23.
• Woodside Road – Intermittent right or left lane closures with passage maintained in each direction and/or flagging-controlled travel 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, to Friday, Aug. 23.
• River Road/PA Route 32 – Intermittent alternating single-lane travel restriction with traffic controlled by flaggers, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, to Friday, Aug. 23.