Lambertville and New Hope merchants, residents and tourists please take notice. The public comment period on the incomplete information that was available at the June 14 and 15 “open house sessions” concerning the New Hope-Lambertville bridge project closes June 30 at 4 p.m. No other public sessions are contemplated.
There must be strong public interest voiced to our respective community government leaders and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to learn and affect the actual impact of this project.
No one is disputing the need for the bridge work. But please think beyond engineering to communicating and addressing impacts on businesses and people.
I went to the June 15 session. I asked two different people for the “shuttle bus” details including the actual planned schedule times, locations for pick up and drop off and hours of running (to name a few). I was told these “shuttle bus” details had not been determined. The business community, employees who use the bridge to get to and from work and people planning a visit to our towns cannot timely comment on information not yet available.
In addition, business planning going into the fall and holiday season of 2023 is already underway. Yet the short-term closings “on select weekdays only” that are identified for late 2023 have not been part of a communications package to the business, residents, or tourist communities.
The website states that “(more information about closures) won’t be available until the open houses scheduled for mid-June in New Hope and Lambertville.”
At the open house, in a small group conversation, a driving plan was identified to close the New Jersey-bound side of the free bridge, rely on the Pennsylvania-bound lane to cross the river from Lambertville, go through New Hope and loop around to the New Jersey-bound side of the toll bridge to create an automobile (and shuttle bus?) travel route between towns without tolls. There was virtually no other information on these matters available at the meetings — including specifics about the shuttle and pedestrian traffic. Such pedestrian traffic is vital to our local businesses and to employees getting to and from work. Yet the public comment on the project closes without those details.
At a minimum we need an actual proposed plan — another information session with one presenter so everyone hears the same information, all the questions/answers and has a chance to comment on such a plan.
Judith Gleason lives in Lambertville.
Editor’s Note: A statement from the DRJTBC said all materials presented during the open houses are now also available at www.drjtbc.org/project/newhopelambertville.
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