'Severe Traffic Warning' Friday For Scudder Falls Bridge

BUCKS COUNTY, PA —The planned Friday-Saturday closure of two Route 295 northbound lanes on the New Jersey approach to the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge is back on for Friday after being delayed by rain last week.

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has rescheduled a postponed single-lane pattern along I-295 northbound in Ewing, N.J., and warned Pennsylvania-bound commuters to avoid the highway segment for travel across the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge Friday evening.

Northbound Route 295 (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” starting around 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14, and ending by sometime Saturday night, Oct. 15.

The roadwork was canceled early last week due to rain delays involving a contractor.

While the single-lane pattern may cause some delays and backups at any time, the most severe congestion is expected to occur during the peak evening commuting period 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14.

Two-mile-long traffic backups and hour-long travel delays are possible during this timeframe.

Due to this likely severe traffic condition, 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 nearby river crossings at Washington Crossing Bridge (upstream) and Calhoun Street Bridge (downstream) 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 problematic road-surface bump on two lanes of an I-295 NB approach bridge that crosses over NJ Route 175, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and NJ Route 29 northbound.

The section of affected roadway is on the New Jersey approach to the Scudder Falls Toll Bridge.

The upcoming corrective work will involve surface-grinding of the bump followed by a series of preparatory steps for the eventual application of a level polyester-polymer concrete (PPC) wearing layer over the underlying ground 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 upcoming lane closures originally were scheduled to take place Oct. 7 and 8 but had to be postponed after rainy weather last week hindered the planned work schedule.

Note: The rescheduled 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.