Beesley’s Point Bridge Reopening in the Works

CREST HAVEN –– An end may be in sight for the Beesley’s Point Bridge closure, which has left Cape May County – the nation’s sixth most storm-vulnerable area – without adequate evacuation routes for nearly four years.
At the county’s 4th Annual Transportation Infrastructure Conference March 11, state Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) announced that the county and state have a “memorandum of agreement” in which the state will fund 60 percent or $12 million of the $20 million needed to fix the bridge. Under the proposal, the state would also pay the annual $1.3 million debt for the first three years as the bridge is repaired.
The Beesley’s Point Bridge (actually two bridges), which connects Upper Township and Somers Point, carries Route 9 over the Great Egg Harbor Bay running parallel to the Garden State Parkway. The privately owned 4,000-foot span has been closed since June 2004.
“It’s a public safety issue and also a fairness and respect issue,” Van Drew said noting that Cape May County is often forgotten when transportation funding is awarded. “But the governor and Secretary Abelow (state Treasurer) have agreed with us that the state has a responsibility with the bridge.”
The county sued the state Department of Transportation (DOT) last year for not forcing the private owners of the bridge to keep it open. The litigation may have spurred the state into this agreement.
Van Drew said the bridge repairs could be done within three years and only thing that could hold up progress is stipulations from the state that the private owners repay nearly $1 million in funding and assume any litigation responsibility. The state Attorney General’s office would begin negotiating with the owners once a final agreement is signed.
Freeholder Director Dan Beyel praised the deal noting that county residents would be have an additional evacuation route as well as easier access to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point. He also said the bridge is important for the county’s tourism industry.
He said the county bridge commission would takeover the operation of the bridge, which was historically busier than any of its other five bridges. Its tolls would help pay the county’s $8 million share of the rehabilitation cost.
Bridge Commission Director Stephen O’Connor said the Beesley’s Point toll takers grabbed over $800,000 from 1.7 million motorists a year giving the project a dedicated revenue stream.
“The out of pocket costs to the county would be very little,” O’Connor said.
Van Drew said he would have supported the plan even without dedicated revenue because it dealt with the health, safety and welfare of Cape May County residents and visitors.
County Engineer Dale Foster said the planned repairs – deck resurfacing, strengthening stringers, rehabilitating the substructure and painting – would give the bridge an extended life expectancy of 15 or more years.
If the basic structure of the bridge wasn’t good, a total replacement of the bridge would cost $138,612,000, Foster said.
County resident George Turner was the only detractor to the planned reopening of the bridge of the 100 or more conference attendees. He called it a waste of money and suggested the state would be better off finishing Route 55 into Cape May County.
Van Drew countered that the Route 55 project has too many environmental obstacles and would ultimately cost over $1 billion.
“The study alone on that project would cost as much as the repairs on the Beesley’s Point Bridge,” he said.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com