By MADDY VITALE
The Townsends Inlet Bridge connects Sea Isle City with Avalon. Built in 1939, it has had its share of repairs and temporary closures along the way.
Tuesday night was one of those times when travelers had to use an alternate route to get into or out of Sea Isle and Avalon. A traffic alert went out Tuesday at 8:11 p.m. stating that “The Townsends Inlet Bridge will be closed until further notice, due to technical issues. Please seek an alternate route of travel.”
By 9:15 p.m. the bridge reopened and the public was notified that “the repair was made. Thank you for your patience.”
The bridge is one of five toll bridges operated by the Cape May County Bridge Commission along the scenic Ocean Drive from Ocean City to Cape May.
The closure is an all too familiar scenario for travelers.
Cape May County Commission Director Leonard Desiderio, who is also Sea Isle’s mayor, emphasized that the problem with the Townsends Inlet Bridge was fixed quickly.
“There was never a safety issue, and it was fixed in a matter of minutes and it was ready to go,” Desiderio said in an interview Wednesday.
He travels the bridge sometimes several times a day and he understands motorists’ frustrations when the bridge is closed.
“I use that bridge every day. There are times I come all the way in through Avalon and it is closed,” Desiderio said. “It is a small inconvenience, but it is not forgotten and we are working on it, but we do need federal and state assistance.”
In addition to the Townsends Inlet Bridge, the Cape May County Bridge Commission operates the Ocean City-Longport, Corson’s Inlet, Grassy Sound and Middle Thorofare bridges along Ocean Drive.
Desiderio said that the county has money accumulating for bridge repairs, but state and federal funding is paramount to doing the bridge repairs.
“We cannot do this on our own. I’m hopeful there is more money from the federal government for infrastructure and bridge repairs, because we do need it. The citizens have been dealing with it for years and I thank them for their cooperation,” he said.
Cape May County Administrator Kevin Lare, who is also the executive director of the Cape May County Bridge Commission, said that the trouble with the bridge Tuesday involved “locking pins that secure the span when it closes.”
If there isn’t complete contact, a notification comes over to bridge authorities that the “bridge is unsafe,” Lare explained in an interview Wednesday.
“The toll collector immediately calls the on-call bridge technician and simultaneously calls the police department. The on-call bridge technician was on scene shortly and made the repairs,” Lare said. “The bridge was closed for an hour and 15 minutes and it is completely safe and secure.”
Lare noted that the Townsends Inlet Bridge is “likely” next in line for updates, but the commission has to make a final determination about that. The first in line is the Middle Thorofare Bridge, which he said, could cost roughly $350 million using federal, state and local funding.
He said that the Ocean City-Longport Bridge is a “great model” for how successful a project can be from the planning stages to the “shovel ready” stage for securing federal and state funding in addition to local money.
