| Commodore Barry Bridge | |
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| Official name | Commodore John Barry Bridge |
| Carries | 5 lanes of US 322 & CR 536 (NJ) & 2 lanes of sidewalk |
| Crosses | Delaware River |
| Locale | Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, New Jersey |
| Maintained by | Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey |
| Design | steel cantilever bridge |
| Total length | 4,240.38 meters (13,912 feet) |
| Width | 23.47 meters (77 feet) |
| Longest span | 501.09 meters (1,644 feet) |
| Clearance below | 58.52 meters (192 feet) |
| AADT | 35,000 |
| Opened | February 1, 1974 |
| Toll | $4.00 (westbound) (E-ZPass) |
| Coordinates | 39°49′32″N 75°22′06″W / 39.82556°N 75.36833°WCoordinates: 39°49′32″N 75°22′06″W / 39.82556°N 75.36833°W |
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]
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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 m), and a main span of 1,644 feet (501 m), making the bridge the fourth longest cantilever bridge in the world, and the longest in the United States.[2] 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 (8.0 km) 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.
Tolls
A $4.00 one-way toll is charged entering Pennsylvania for passenger vehicles (less than 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) gross vehicle weight). A $12 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 lb (3,200 kg). gross vehicle weight), pay $7 cash per axle. Seniors aged 65 and over can use a ticket program to pay $2.00 per trip (not integrated with E-ZPass).
See also
- List of crossings of the Delaware River
- Union Field at Chester, a soccer-specific stadium for Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer and the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer, is located at the bridge's southwesterly corner.
References
- ^ Delaware River Port Authority (May 12, 2008). "Traffic Restrictions To Begin On Commodore Barry Bridge". http://www.drpa.org/content.asp?page=News¶m=2&ItemNumber=2433. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
- ^ Durkee, Jackson (1999-05-24). "World’s Longest Bridge Spans". National Steel Bridge Alliance. pp. 24. http://www.aisc.org/Content/ContentGroups/Documents/NSBA5/20_NSBA_LongestSpans.PDF. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
External links
- Commodore Barry Bridge: Historic Overview
- Delaware River Port Authority: Commodore Barry Bridge
- Commodore Barry Bridge in the Structurae database
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