Of the historical events of the present century, one of real significance to the future of the County came on October 22, 1948 - when a Burlington County Bridge Commission, newly appointed by the Board of Freeholders, acquired title to the Tacony-Palmyra and Burlington-Bristol Bridges.

 

From below, a view of the Burlington-Bristol Bridge structure. The bridge opened May 1, 1931.
(Webmaster note: Caption is incorrect. Bridge pictured is Pennsylvania Turnpike Bridge at Florence, NJ. Here is a picture of the Burlington-Bristol Bridge)
The purchase was feasible under earlier Congressional legislation providing that, once the original bonds were paid off, a State or political subdivision thereof could buy such bridges from private Bridge Companies.

 
The sudden acquisition came nevertheless as a stark surprise in many quarters; and was contested and eventually upheld. It also came as a very pleasant surprise to motorists, who have been paying lower tolls ever since.

 
The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge began as a vision in the mind of Charles A. Wright of Riverton, and was on the drawing board at the time the Benjamin Franklin Bridge was dedicated at Camden in 1926. The privately-owned Tacony-Palmyra Bridge Company built its four-lane structure in the period 1927 to 1929.

 
The Burlington-Bristol Bridge Company, likewise privately-owned, built its two lane bridge soon thereafter, in 1930-1931.

 
Little could the future be conjectured.

 
Original traffic projections for the Tacony-Palmyra span, for instance, predicted 1 ½ million vehicle crossings per year. By the time of County acquisition in 1948, the figure was nearing 5 million.

 

Preliminary Engineer's drawing of the projected Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in 1927.
The count multiplied dramatically, and more so after the institution of passenger car toll reduction to five cents in 1955. Today the Burlington-Bristol Bridge alone carries over 9 million cars and trucks; and the Tacony-Palmyra crossings register a phenomenal 26 million plus annually - more than are carried on either the Benjamin Franklin or the twin Memorial Bridges. The Palmyra bridge is in fact the heaviest traveled toll bridge, per lane, in the world. . . .which says much for efficient management.

 
The first Bridge Commissioners were Fred Norcross Jr. of Pemberton, Howard Yocum of Maple Shade, and Daniel Lichtenthal of Riverside. The Bridge Commission’s scope of activity extends far beyond the two structures, into maintenance of miles of access roads and of a half-dozen other County bridges.

 
Many observers see a direct correlation between the acquisition of the County Bridges and the jump in County population - which has soared mightily over the past half-century. In 1920 the count stood at 81,770; in 1940, approximately 97,000; by 1960 the figure had more than doubled, to 224,499; and in 1970 the count showed another fantastic increase, to 325,657.

 
Little can the future of the County Bridges be conjectured, even today.

 
If however the average motorist and resident were consulted, any ideas put forward by the Bridge Commission would have a lot of backing....for its policies to date have won a host of friends for Burlington County, on both sides of the Delaware.

 

 

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