BEESLEY’S POINT — Today, Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m., a bevy of Cape May County officials will be joined by Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) for a brief ceremony that will transfer ownership of the Beesley’s Point Bridge to the county.
For the paltry sum of $1, the freeholders will assume ownership from the private company that owns the 80-year-old span, the Beesley’s Point Bridge company.
Expected to attend the event, in addition to freeholders and Van Drew, will be Stephen O’Connor, executive director of the Cape May County Bridge Commission, which will operate the bridge, and county Engineer Dale Foster.
Foster estimated that the bridge will require some $20 million in repairs to make it safe, and bring it up to a 15-ton capacity by 2012, when it is projected to open.
At the time of the freeholders’ vote to acquire the bridge, Freeholder Gerald Thornton cast the lone dissenting vote.
He said that, while he believes the bridge ought to be open to link Cape May County to Atlantic County, the financial burden should not be undertaken by Cape May County residents, but instead by the state Department of Transportation, since the highway it links, U.S. Route 9, is a state highway and part of the federal highway system.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com
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