CREST HAVEN — County Administrator Stephen O’Connor said the county anticipates, by the end of August, a resolution will be reached with state Department of Transportation officials in negotiations concerning the future of the Beesley’s Point Bridge.
Negotiations have arisen out of a lawsuit filed in January by the county against the state to force the state to reopen the bridge, which is privately owned, and is one of two main arteries in and out of the county. The lawsuit is presently in the Superior Court Appellate Division. A briefing schedule has been delayed in anticipation of possible settlement, O’Connor said.
The bridge connects Upper Township, Cape May County, and Somers Point, Atlantic County.
O’Connor said that although some people, including state officials, dismiss the bridge as somewhat redundant — it runs parallel to the Garden State Parkway span across the Great Egg Harbor Bay — the bridge is one of the two main arteries out of Cape May County, and crucial for safe evacuation of residents and visitors in the event of a hurricane, or other emergency.
“It is one of the evacuation routes, not just for Upper Township … You need to expedite Upper Township so there’s a steady flow for the rest of county to get out. It is a countywide concern,” he said.
The bridge has been closed for four years for repairs and is on the state list of structurally deficient bridges. The bridge owners, Beesley’s Point Bridge Company, received a $900,000 grant, a condition of which was to have the bridge open for 15 years. But the bridge has not opened to traffic since then, and although some repairs were completed, the bridge is still not rehabilitated and the money has run out, according to O’Connor.
The county has taken the position with the state that the Department of Transportation, through litigation or negotiations, should attempt to recoup some or all of that money from the bridge owners and assume bridge ownership.
The state’s position, according to O’Connor, is that it is not in the business of bailing out private companies, and that the bridge is not truly a state concern as it only concerns one of 21 counties statewide. Atlantic County, O’Connor said, is not interested in stepping in, either.
“Plus,” O’Connor added, for the last three years, “DOT has a new initiative of doing projects statewide where they expect counties to partner with state agencies on major capital projects.”
Thus, it comes down to money.
Negotiations are continuing between the county and state officials now over the proper funding share.
It would cost $20 million to rehabilitate the bridge, O’Connor said, and $140 million for a new bridge.
The rehabilitation costs, after recouping what can be gotten from the owners, would be shared between county and state, he said, as long as the state picks up the lion’s share of the costs, with several options. Either the state would own the bridge, and an interlocal agreement would enable the county Bridge Commission to operate it, or the state would give it to the county. Either way, the commission has expressed a willingness to operate the span as a toll bridge.
“We’re still in discussions with the DOT on a funding formula that would be acceptable to both state and county taxpayers,” said O’Connor.
Lower Township – Who are these people that are obvious experts on trash cans and leaf pick-up? Maybe they don't have any trash to put out or leaves in their yard!!
