The newly installed open-road, all-electronic tolling gantry at the New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge officially entered service late Wednesday morning.
The high-speed facility recorded its first transaction at 11:01 a.m. in the Pennsylvania-bound southbound lanes, which is the only direction where tolls are collected, according to the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.
Advertisements
The system was expected to be turn on Tuesday, but rainy weather delayed it.
The activation represents the first time the commission has converted a traditional cash-collection toll plaza into a fully modern, open-road electronic system.
Cash collections at the bridge originally ended on June 17, 2024.
For the past two years, cashless tolling had been utilized through the bridge’s legacy plaza infrastructure, requiring motorists to pay via E-ZPass or Toll-By-Plate license-plate billing.
Advertisements
Commission officials noted that the bridge has the highest E-ZPass usage rate among its eight toll bridges, with nearly 94 percent of transactions processed electronically.
The upgrade is the centerpiece of a 22-month modernization project. Beyond the new gantry installation, the scope of work includes demolishing the former cash-collection plaza, repairing the bridge’s Pennsylvania abutment, and reconstructing the Route 202 road surface on the Solebury Township side.
Advertisements
As a way to accommodate the ongoing construction, traffic on the four-lane highway bridge has been reduced to a single lane in each direction since last summer.
All work is scheduled to conclude in the first half of 2027.
Once completed, the bridge and its approaches will be restored to two lanes in each direction, and all project-related speed and vehicle size restrictions will be lifted.
The bridge averages just over 10,000 vehicles per day and will mark its 55th year of operation on July 22.
Advertisements
