Feds Issue Permits For New Scudder Falls Bridge Span
By David Madden
LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- Plans are moving ahead to replace the Scudder Falls Bridge, which carries I-95 across the Delaware River.
The final federal permits have been issued to begin construction after the Federal Highway Administration issued a finding that the $330-million project will have "no significant impact" on the environment.
It's taken quite a while to get to this point, according to Frank McCartney, executive director of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.
"The process that we went through over the last nine years included virtually everybody from EPA to Fish & Wildlife to snail darters, land mussels, and every other conceivable issue that you can address," he tells KYW Newsradio.
And now that the final regulatory hurdle has been cleared, McCartney's people can focus their efforts on designing and building the new span, with improvements in both Bucks and Mercer counties.
Once it's built, cashless tolls will be set up on the southbound side. But that's still a few years off.
