Townsends Inlet Bridge Has Big Increase in Traffic in 2020

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI The Townsends Inlet Bridge played a major role in boosting traffic and revenue for the Cape May County Bridge Commission in 2020 despite cutbacks in travel during the pandemic. Overall, traffic was up about 3.5 percent to 1,987,787 vehicles, while revenue climbed 4.5 percent to $2,847,347 in 2020 for the five toll bridges operated by the commission. In 2019, traffic came in at 1,921,328 vehicles and toll revenue amounted to $2,723,849. Karen Coughlin, the commission’s executive director, explained that the Townsends Inlet Bridge was the main factor in the overall increase in traffic and revenue in 2020. In 2019, the Townsends Inlet Bridge was shut down until late July for a major reconstruction project. However, it was open for all of 2020, giving motorists their usual direct link between Sea Isle City and Avalon. As a result, traffic on the Townsends Inlet Bridge jumped 137 percent in 2020 to 381,000 vehicles compared to 160,000 vehicles in 2019, Coughlin said. “The T.I. was the one that kind of picked us up there,” she noted of the bridge’s overall impact on the commission’s traffic and revenue figures for 2020. In addition to the Townsends Inlet Bridge, the commission operates the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, Corsons Inlet Bridge, Middle Thorofare Bridge and Grassy Sound Bridge. The five bridges connect the Cape May County shore communities along the scenic Ocean Drive. The number of vehicles using the Townsends Inlet Bridge more than doubles in 2020 compared to 2019. Although figures were up for Townsends Inlet, the Ocean City-Longport Bridge and Middle Thorofare Bridge had traffic declines over the summer, Coughlin said. She attributed the decline to a drop in the number of Canadian tourists to the Jersey Shore caused by travel restrictions during the pandemic. “That’s the only thing I can figure. It is really kind of guessing. We know the situation that was going on around here. There’s a lot of local people. But we didn’t have that Canadian traffic,” Coughlin said during the bridge commission’s monthly board meeting Thursday. Beaches, boardwalks and other tourist attractions at the Jersey Shore were closed in the spring during Gov. Phil Murphy’s early round of COVID-19 restrictions in response to the pandemic. However, most restrictions were lifted in time for the peak summer tourism season, allowing vacationers and second homeowners to enjoy the shore again. “We all see the people that are here. They’re down here in the houses and they stayed here. They’re still here,” Coughlin said. In the meantime, the commission continues to keep the toll for all five of its bridges at $1.50. In October, the commission approved a nearly $3.9 million operating budget for 2021 that does not include a toll hike. Tolls have not been raised since 2009, although the commission announced plans for a fare hike in 2017 to help pay for the introduction of the E-ZPass automated toll collection system on the bridges. It later backed off raising tolls in 2017, after deciding that a fare increase during the summer tourism rush would have been complicated and confusing for motorists. Under the proposed 2017 toll hike, the bridge commission had wanted to structure it in a way so that year-round residents would not carry the burden of the increase. There would have been a $1 increase in effect from Memorial Day to Columbus Day to coincide with the summer tourism season. A 50-cent toll increase would have occurred during the off-season. However, those plans remain in limbo.