Beesley's Point Bridge
The Beesley's Point Bridge was a bridge in New Jersey, United States, that was built privately by the Ocean City Automobile Club in 1927. Completed in 1928, control of the bridge was acquired by the Beesley's Point Bridge Company. It was a toll bridge from its opening. Prior to its closing, it was best known for carrying U.S. Route 9 (US 9) over the Great Egg Harbor Bay, connecting Upper Township, in Cape May County to Somers Point in Atlantic County. Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway temporally concurred over the Beesley's Point Bridge from the Parkway's opening in 1954 until a separate bridge over the bay for the Parkway, the Great Egg Harbor Bridge, opened in 1955.
Beesley's Point Bridge | |
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The Beesley's Point Bridge heading north | |
Coordinates | 39°17′33.9″N 74°37′33.8″W |
Carries | 2 lanes of US 9 |
Crosses | Great Egg Harbor Bay |
Maintained by | Cape May County Bridge Commission |
Characteristics | |
Design | Causeway |
Total length | 4,800 ft (1,500 m) |
History | |
Opened | June 16, 1928 |
Closed | 2004 (demolished 2013–2016) |
Location | |
Through the decades, the Beesley's Point Bridge Company became unable to fund repairs on the aging bridge. In 1997, the bridge company, in conjunction with private outside investors, secured a $1 million loan from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to fund the necessary improvements in exchange for a promise that they would continue to keep the bridge open until 2016.
In 2004, the owners of the bridge broke that promise realizing that the repairs would cost many times more than the original estimate. As a result, the Company agreed to close the bridge and it closed to traffic on June 18, 2004.
After the bridge closed, US 9 was not rerouted, and as such was rendered incomplete. This remained unchanged until 2013, when the permanent US 9 was realigned to follow the decommissioned US 9 temporarys former routing to once again concur with the Garden State Parkway, allowing the direct connection of US 9 within the state boundaries of New Jersey for the first time since the bridges closure.