Commodore Barry Bridge
The Commodore Barry Bridge (also known as the Commodore John Barry Bridge or John Barry Bridge) is a cantilever bridge that spans the Delaware River from Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, New Jersey, in Logan Township. It is named after John Barry, an American Revolutionary War hero and Philadelphia resident.
Commodore Barry Bridge | |
|---|---|
Commodore Barry Bridge crossing the Delaware River from Chester, Pennsylvania to Logan Township, New Jersey (background) | |
| Coordinates | 39°49′32″N 75°22′06″W |
| Carries | 5 lanes of US 322 (full length) CR 536 (NJ side) |
| Crosses | Delaware River |
| Locale | Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, New Jersey |
| Official name | Commodore John Barry Bridge |
| Maintained by | Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel cantilever bridge |
| Total length | 13,912 feet (4,240 meters) |
| Width | 77 feet (23 meters) |
| Longest span | 1,644 feet (501 meters) |
| Clearance below | 192 feet (59 meters) |
| History | |
| Construction cost | $115 million |
| Opened | February 1, 1974 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 35,000 |
| Toll | $5.00 (westbound) (E-ZPass) |
| Location | |
Along with the Betsy Ross Bridge, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Commodore Barry Bridge is one of the four toll bridges connecting the metropolitan Philadelphia region with southern New Jersey owned by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA). Originally designed to connect with a now-cancelled freeway, the limited-access bridge has recently been retrofitted to better serve the local area. Between 2007 and 2011, both the DRPA and the PennDOT, in conjunction with the Chester Redevelopment Authority, built a pair of entrance-exit ramps that allowed motorists, primarily heavy truck traffic, to access the Chester Waterfront, via Pennsylvania Route 291 and Flower Street (via West 9th Street (U.S. Route 13)) from I-95. Other improvements, such as deck joint replacement, concrete patching (on the approaches), and other safety and engineering improvements are either ongoing or have been completed.
The bridge replaced the Chester–Bridgeport Ferry, a ferry service that from July 1, 1930 to February 1, 1974, was the sole means of crossing the Delaware River from Delaware County, Pennsylvania to Gloucester County, New Jersey. The Chester side of the ferry service experienced the Wade Dump fire and SuperFund cleanup, and has since become the city-owned Barry Bridge Park with the adjacent Subaru Park (home of the Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union franchise) being opened in 2010.