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The Commodore Barry Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Delaware River from Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, in Logan Township, New Jersey, USA. It is named after the American Revolutionary War hero and Philadelphia resident, John Barry.
Along with the Betsy Ross Bridge, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Commodore Barry Bridge is one of the four toll bridges connecting the metro Philadelphia region with southern New Jersey owned by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). Both the DRPA and the PennDOT are in the process of building two new exit ramps that will allow motorists to access the Chester Waterfront (via Pennsylvania Route 291) from I-95. Additionally, a deck joint replacement project began in May 2008 with expected completion in 7 months.[1]
[edit] History
Construction of the bridge began on April 14, 1969, and it opened to traffic on February 1, 1974. It has a total length of 13,912 feet (4,240 meters), and a main span of 1,644 feet (501 meters). The road has a total of five lanes, divided by a zipper barrier, in which a machine can configure the number of lanes in each direction, depending upon traffic volume or construction. The bridge is designated as part of U.S. Route 322 and has direct connections with U.S. Route 13 and Interstate 95 in Chester and U.S. Route 130 in Bridgeport, with a connection to Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike within a 5-mile radius of the bridge. It replaced an earlier ferry service which ceased operation on January 31, 1974.
Originally created to be a connection to one of the then-proposed freeways in New Jersey, the Commodore Barry Bridge was to connect Interstate 95 near Chester to, at one point, the Atlantic City Expressway near Hammonton, but those plans were eventually scrapped when it was realized that many people in the college town of Glassboro would be affected. There are new talks of possibly upgrading US 322 to a freeway from US 130 to Interstate 295's current Exit 11, or even as far as the New Jersey Turnpike's Exit 2. There is no mention if this new freeway would be included in the Interstate Highway System, though it hasn't been ruled out yet, either.
A $3.00 one-way toll is charged for passenger vehicles (less than 7,000 lbs gross vehicle weight). An $18 credit will be given on a per tag basis for any DRPA-issued E-ZPass tag that crosses one of the four DRPA bridges 18 times in a calendar month. Trucks, Commercial vehicles, mobile homes and recreation vehicles (weighing at least 7,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight), pay $4.50 cash per axle. Seniors aged 65 and over can use a ticket program to pay $1.00 per trip (not integrated with E-ZPass).[2] The DRPA had initially proposed a $1 to $2 toll increase on the bridge in early 2008,[3] however it has pushed the toll hike back to at least mid-2008 due to its decision to use general funds to fund projects for the time being.[4]
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