Traffic changes coming to Delaware Memorial Bridge: What you need to know
NEW CASTLE, Del. – A construction project will squeeze traffic on the Delaware Memorial Bridge until Thanksgiving week, according to the span’s operator.
The work, starting on or about the night of Sept. 4, will affect multiple lanes in both directions as crews rehabilitate the span’s driving surface, said the Delaware River and Bay Authority.
It is the third and final phase of an improvement project that began last fall.
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Construction crews initially will establish a bypass lane for New Jersey-bound traffic on the southbound lane, the DRBA said in a statement.
“While the bypass lane is being created, the two left lanes of the Delaware-bound structure will be closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a third lane to close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
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The bypass lane, expected to be completed by Sept. 8, will carry one lane of New Jersey-bound traffic to the exterior lane of the Delaware-bound bridge.
It will only accommodate cars headed for the New Jersey Turnpike, according to the statement.
The DRBA acknowledged traffic congestion may occur during rush-hour periods and peak weekend travel times.
More than 1.6 million vehicles crossed the bridge in June, the latest month for which statistics are available at the authority's website.
That represented an increase of about 3 percent from June 2022.
Separately, the DRBA is spending almost $93 million to protect the bridge’s towers from passing ships.
“The current bridge tower pier protection systems are original to each span and today’s tankers and ships are bigger and faster than those of the 1950s and 1960s,” Thomas Cook, the authority’s executive director, said when the project began in July.
“Our goal is to take preemptive measures to prevent a commercial vessel from striking one of the bridge towers, which could cause significant damage to the bridge infrastructure and disruptions to interstate travel," said Cook.
That work, partially funded by $22.2 million in federal aid, is to be completed by September 2025, according to the DRBA.
For the latest in traffic information and project updates, sign up for text alerts at www.bridgealerts.com or follow @demembridge on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Delaware Memorial Bridge project expected to end by Thanksgiving Day
