Rehabbed Route 22 Bridge Begins to Reopen

The Delaware River Toll Bridge Commission says it has reopened part of Route 22 east between Easton and Phillipsburg.

The right-hand eastbound lane of the highway—which had been shut down for repairs since the summer—reopened Wednesday afternoon, one week ahead of schedule.

The commission said this "marks the first milestone in what is anticipated to be a segmented week-long process to return Route 22 to two lanes of travel in each direction across the toll bridge."

The next step will involve reopening the Second Street/Bushkill Street on-ramp and the lefthand eastbound lane, which is scheduled to happen Friday. 

Sometime between Dec. 10 and 11, the commission says it will reopen both lanes of the westbound side of the highway. The bridge will be open both ways for the rest of the year, into March 2014, when a new single-lane traffic pattern will be set up on the bridge.

The commission began closing lanes in July as part of a $30 million project to rehabilitate the bridge between Easton and Phillipsburg, as well as some of the surrounding exits and overpasses. The project is expected to wrap up in 2015.