New Pedestrian Walkway Reopens On New Hope-Lambertville Bridge

NEW HOPE, LAMBERTVILLE — The new pedestrian walkway on the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge reopened to the public Wednesday afternoon, according to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

The walkway had been closed since mid-July as part of a comprehensive bridge rehabilitation project that began earlier this year.

A temporary walkway installed across the bridge’s roadway deck has since allowed pedestrians to cross the river between New Hope’s and Lambertville’s commercial centers. The commission also provided a free shuttle service, which has operated much of the time on a weekends-only basis. That shuttle service is being suspended with the opening of the new walkway.

The closure of the bridge’s old walkway facility four months ago enabled workers to remove its 20-year-old slip-prone surface panels and fading railings. This closure further enabled construction crews to clean and repaint the bridge’s downstream trusses and outfit the structure with a new electrical supply system, security cameras, and new lighting. Workers also painted the cantilevered supports that hold up the walkway.

The bridge’s new walkway system and railings were installed over the past couple months. The new facility now features a quieter slip-resistant system of foam-core fiber-reinforce polymer panels and new railings that can cast lighting directly onto the walkway surface.

The walkway’s reopening had been delayed by the discovery of an unforeseen issue – a deteriorated structural connection in the bridge’s second span from the Pennsylvania side. To address the situation, a special temporary bridge stabilizing device called a “friction collar” was designed, fabricated, and pieced together on the bridge over the course of the past couple months. The fully completed installation of this critical temporary device is allowing for the new walkway’s opening today.

A permanent repair, however, still needs to be made at the critical deteriorated structural joint in the bridge’s second span. As previously announced, this repair work will require an uninterrupted two-week-long bridge closure to both vehicular and pedestrian crossings starting January 13. The Commission plans to resume free shuttle service for pedestrians while the bridge is shut down. Information on the shuttle schedule will be announced by the Commission sometime in December.

When the structural repair is completed, the walkway will reopen. The bridge also should be able to carry traffic in both directions for the first time since late-January 2024. The bridge has only been able to carry Pennsylvania-bound traffic throughout the course of this year’s rehabilitation project and the subsequent discovery of the deteriorated structural connection.