Wildwoods/Lower Twp Bridge Reopened Sooner Than Expected

After warning that the Middle Thorofare or Two-Mile Bridge from Lower Township to Wildwood Crest would be closed indefinitely and could take many weeks to repair, workers were able to complete repairs early Wednesday and reopen the span to traffic.

Bridge Work Was Expected to Last Weeks

The Middle Thorofare Bridge that connects Diamond Beach with Lower Township and other Jersey Shore areas with the Garden State Parkway was shut to traffic was shut down last weekend after becoming stuck in the open position when a motor failed.

It appeared that the problem was going to be one that took a long time to rectify.

“There is no timeline on reopening at this time,” Wildwood Crest Mayor Don Cabrera posted on Facebook Sunday morning. “It could be an extended period of time.”

Well, that turned out not to be the case as workers, Cape May County and bridge commission officials managed to open the bridge only days later.

The bridge was closed... due to a total failure of the drive shaft motor that is used to open the bridge on demand. Since then, Bridge Commission staff and County officials were able to source a new drive-shaft motor, and County and Bridge Commission staff worked tirelessly from morning to night to complete extensive repairs to the bridge’s drive-shaft-motor system deeming it fully operational...

 

Many Rely on the Bridge

From area businesses on both sides of the bridge to local residents whose commute tripled with the bridge out of service and  EMT and emergency service vehicles trying to reach the area, an extended closure of the bridge would have been a real inconvenience.

All traffic has now resumed normal use of the Middle Thorofare Bridge without any restrictions.

But a time will come shortly when a longer inconvenience will have to be dealt with.

The toll bridge needs tp be replaced at the estimated cost of $250 million.

The Cape May County Bridge Commission owns the bridge on the Ocean Drive causeway, along with two other bridges. All were built in 1939 with an expected life of 75 years, which has now been exceeded by about 10 years.