Jersey Shore bridge, closed since September, reopens

The Townsend’s Inlet Bridge, which has been closed since September for a span replacement project, has finally reopened.

And this weekend it’s free.

The bridge, which connects Sea Isle City and Avalon, was supposed to reopen before Memorial Day, but remained closed due to complications that required additional work.

The toll bridge — it costs $1.50 for passenger vehicles — is one of five barrier island connectors operated by the Cape May County Bridge Commission. It reopened to traffic Thursday evening at 6 p.m.

The project — which Cape May County Engineer Robert Church said likely surpassed its $8.6 million budget — replaced the 80-year-old bridge’s first seven spans. The bridge closed Sept. 17 so the 35-foot spans could be demolished and replaced with three new spans, ranging from 75 to 100 feet in length.

The original timetable called for the bridge to reopen on May 22, but Church said a series of unforeseen setbacks made that date unachievable. The closure extended into the summer season, forcing anyone seeking to travel between the two barrier islands to make a 17-mile detour via the Garden State Parkway on the mainland.

“We knew it was an inconvenience to everyone,” Church said. “The whole group of designers and contractors worked collaboratively to try to advance the work as fast as possible because we knew it was a critical link between the two islands, but we were bound by quality, too. We did not want to jeopardize quality or integrity of the work”

The bridge commission decided the major overhaul was needed in the winter of 2017.

The move followed a biannual inspection that found the bridge’s steel supports were deteriorating, triggering a three-month shutdown starting in April 2017 for a $3 million repair project.

Still, Church said, “It didn’t cost justify."

With the current project, he said that in addition to work-related complications, including a pier falling into the water, the schedule was slowed by the “harsh environment.”

“It’s almost like building a bridge in an ocean because the current is so strong there,” Church said.

Paul “Captain Zig” Black, 61, who has lived in Sea Isle since 1973, said he was not surprised the bridge did not meet the expected May reopening date. He’s on the water frequently, taking customers on fishing trips as part of his business, First Fish Adventures. He saw the construction delays, he said, by boat.

Black says he was glad to see the bridge reopen this week. He said the bridge’s shutdown decreased his fishing business this summer. He also works as a carpenter and commutes to Avalon up to four times a week. When the bridge was closed, he was forced to take the 25-minute detour along Route 9.

The day the bridge opened, spirits were high in the two Shore communities.

Black took a ride across the Townsend Inlet Bridge on his scooter Thursday evening.

He said there were several bicyclists cruising across just for fun.

All are taking advantage of the free travel before tolls on the bridge resume Monday morning.

George Murphy, who is retired and has spent his summers in Avalon for the past 35 years, went to Sea Isle’s CVS and Acme Markets. The shopping trip was his first visit to the borough this summer. He and his wife, Peg, said they can now also enjoy Sea Isle’s restaurants for the rest of the season

Ronda Sekela, 52, and her husband, Shawn, 53, of Douglassville, Pa. have been in Sea Isle with their two sons since Wednesday. They, like others, were sure to squeeze in a ride across the bridge to Avalon on Thursday.

And not because they had to.

“Just because we could,” laughed Ronda Sekela.