The Townsends Inlet Bridge connects Sea Isle City and Avalon.
Cape May County has begun a Local Concept Development study for the replacement of the Townsends Inlet Bridge linking Sea Isle City and Avalon.
The old-fashioned drawbridge, built in 1939 during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, is considered a critical transportation connection for residents, business owners and visitors along the Ocean Drive.
As part of the LCD study, the county is circulating a questionnaire to local residents asking for their input on the bridge’s proposed replacement.
“The LCD study will focus on developing alternatives for bridge replacement while considering the ecologically sensitive resources located in the study area. Major milestones to be achieved during the study include an analysis of existing conditions, alternatives analysis, and the selection of a Preliminary Preferred Alternative,” the county said in a statement.
The construction of a new Townsends Inlet Bridge is estimated to cost between $65.7 million and $167.7 million and would take years to complete, according to a county transportation report released in 2020.
The concept study represents another preliminary step in what has been a multiyear process of planning and discussion to build a new bridge to connect Sea Isle and Avalon over Townsends Inlet.
The bridge has been showing its age. It has gone through a series of shutdowns in recent years for structural repairs, maintenance work and related road construction. It underwent an $8.6 million reconstruction that forced it to close for 10 months in 2018 and 2019 while seven deteriorated spans on the Avalon side were replaced.
The county does not have the money to replace the bridge, but hopes to eventually secure state and federal funding to build a new one. Cost estimates range so widely because there are different alignments that a new bridge could follow when it is built over Townsends Inlet.
The aging Townsends Inlet Bridge has been closed at times for maintenance work and repairs.Some proposed alignments would take the bridge closer to the ocean or bay, while others would follow the same path as the existing span. Each option would come with different costs and different regulatory requirements because of their various environmental impacts.
Under a projected timeline, preliminary work such as completing the designs, engineering and obtaining the regulatory permits for a new bridge might take as long as six years. Construction could add another three years, according to the county’s 2020 report.
Also as part of the LCD study, the county is surveying local residents and organizations about their boating needs in the Townsend’s Inlet navigation channel next to the bridge.
Information obtained in the questionnaire will be used to complete a Maritime Navigation Evaluation required by the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other public review agencies to better understand what impact the Townsends Inlet Bridge improvements may have on navigation, the county said.
The county said the questionnaire is entirely voluntary, and no individual responses will be shared with the general public. All data will be used and distributed in summary form only.
Anyone answering the questionnaire is asked to complete it by no later than Nov. 12.
