Walt Whitman Bridge

{{Short description|Bridge between Philadelphia, PA and Gloucester City, NJ}}

{{Infobox bridge

|bridge_name= Walt Whitman Bridge

|image= File:Walt Whitman Bridge from the air.jpg

|image_size=300px

|caption= Walt Whitman Bridge, connecting Gloucester City, New Jersey and Philadelphia

|official_name= Walt Whitman Bridge

|carries= 7 lanes{{cite web | url=http://www.drpa.org/bridges/bridges_ww.html | title=Walt Whitman Bridge | publisher=Delaware River Port Authority | date=2013 | access-date=December 15, 2014 | archive-date=November 12, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112190012/http://www.drpa.org/bridges/bridges_ww.html | url-status=dead }} of 20px I-76

|crosses= Delaware River

|locale= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Gloucester City, New Jersey

|maint= Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey

|id= 4500010

|design= Steel suspension bridge

|mainspan= {{convert|610|m|ft|order=flip}}{{cite web | url=http://structurae.net/structures/walt-whitman-bridge | title=Walt Whitman Bridge | publisher=Ernst & Sohn | work=Structurae – International Database for Civil and Structural Engineering | date=July 29, 2014 | access-date=December 15, 2014}}

|length= {{convert|11981|ft|m}}

|width= {{convert|92|ft|2|in|m}}

|clearance=

|below= {{convert|150|ft|m}}{{cite web |title = Bridges and Cables|publisher = Moran Shipping|url = http://phl.ports.moranshipping.com/Lists/Documents/Port%20of%20philadelphia%20Information.pdf|access-date = 3 April 2019}}

|traffic= 120,000

|open= {{start date and age|May 16, 1957}}

|closed=

|toll= $6.00 (westbound) (E-ZPass){{cite web | url=https://www.drpa.org/travel/toll-schedule.html | title=DRPA - Travel Info | publisher=Delaware River Port Authority | accessdate=September 4, 2024}}

No toll for eastbound vehicles going from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

|coordinates ={{coord|39|54|19|N|75|07|47|W|type:city_region:US-PA_scale:25000|display=inline,title}}

}}

The Walt Whitman Bridge is a single-level suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia in the west to Gloucester City in Camden County, New Jersey in the east. The bridge is named after American poet and essayist Walt Whitman, who resided in nearby Camden toward the end of his life.

Walt Whitman Bridge is {{convert|11981|ft|m}} in length, making it one of the larger bridges on the East Coast of the United States. The bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority.

The bridge is a part of Interstate 76, which, between the Delaware River and the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is known as the Schuylkill Expressway; this was originally part of Interstate 676's route until it switched positions with I-76 in 1972.

Along with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which carried I-76 until 1972, and has carried I-676 since, the Betsy Ross Bridge, Delaware Memorial Bridge, Commodore Barry Bridge, and Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, the Walt Whitman Bridge is one of six expressway-standard bridges connecting the Philadelphia area with Southern New Jersey.

Design and construction

The bridge was designed by noted civil engineer Othmar Ammann, responsible for a number of historic bridges in the New York City metropolitan area. Construction began in 1953, and it opened to traffic on May 16, 1957. The bridge has a total length of {{convert|11981|ft|m}}, and a main span of {{convert|610|m|ft|order=flip}}. The bridge has seven lanes, three in each direction and a center lane that is shifted variably (via a zipper barrier) to accommodate heavy traffic.{{cite web | url=https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/2017/11/21/ben-franklin-bridge-zipper-traffic-barrier-drpa/881828001/ | title=How do they do that? Moving the traffic barrier on Ben Franklin Bridge | publisher=Courier-Post | date=November 21, 2017 | accessdate=October 10, 2022 | author=Comegno, Carol}}

The Walt Whitman statue by Jo Davidson was placed at the intersection of Broad Street and Packer Avenue, in Philadelphia near the approach to the Walt Whitman Bridge.{{cite book | title=Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze and Stone | publisher=Walker Publishing Co., Inc | author=Fairmount Park Art Association | year=1974 | isbn=9780802704597 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/sculptureofcityp0000unse/page/290 290] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/sculptureofcityp0000unse/page/290 }}

Name

The controversy that surrounded the naming of the Walt Whitman Bridge has been documented in a series of letters from members of the public held in the Kislak Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The Center summarizes the controversy, saying, "The bridge was meant to be named after a person of note who had lived in New Jersey, but some area citizens opposed the name 'Walt Whitman Bridge'...Many objecting to the choice of his name for the bridge saw Whitman's work as sympathizing with communist ideals and criticized him for his egalitarian view of humanity."{{cite web | url=https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/records/UPENN_RBML_PUSP.MS.COLL.1043 | title=Delaware River Port Authority records on the naming of the Walt Whitman Bridge | publisher=University of Pennsylvania | accessdate=April 19, 2023}}

Tolls

File:Walt Whitman Bridge EB.JPG toward Gloucester City, New Jersey]]

A $6.00 one-way toll is charged to westbound passenger vehicles (less than or equal {{convert|7000|lb|abbr=on}} gross vehicle weight) traveling from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. A $18 credit will be given on a per tag basis for any New Jersey-issued E-ZPass tag that crosses one of the four DRPA bridges 18 times in a calendar month. Trucks, commercial vehicles, mobile homes and recreation vehicles (weighing at least {{convert|7001|lb|abbr=on}} gross vehicle weight) pay $9.00 per axle. Seniors aged 65 and over with an NJ E-ZPass can use a discount program to pay $3.00 per trip.{{cite web|title=DRPA - Travel Info |url=https://www.drpa.org/travel/senior-discount.html |access-date=2024-09-05}} There is no toll for eastbound vehicles traveling from Pennsylvania to New Jersey since 1992, when one-way tolls were instituted.

On July 17, 2024, the DRPA approved an increase in the toll for passenger vehicles from $5.00 to $6.00, which went into effect on September 1, 2024.{{Cite web |title=DRPA - News and Media |url=https://drpa.org/news/news.asp?param=2&num=9660 |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=Delaware River Port Authority}}

Gallery

{{gallery|mode=packed|height=165|width=165

|File:Walt Whitman Bridge 2a.jpg|Walt Whitman Bridge south side

|File:Walt Whitman Bridge 1.jpg|Walt Whitman Bridge north side

|File:Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, Philadelphia.jpg|Packer Avenue Marine Terminal

|Image:Walt_Whitman_Bridge_at_night.jpg|Night view

|File:Walt Whitman Bridge, Philadelphia.jpg|Aerial with Port of Camden at right

|Image:Walt Whitman Monument.jpg|Walt Whitman monument at the bridge entrance

}}

References

External links

[http://www.drpa.org/bridges/bridges_ww.html Delaware River Port Authority site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112190012/http://www.drpa.org/bridges/bridges_ww.html |date=2017-11-12 }}
{{Structurae|id=20000566|title=Walt Whitman Bridge}}

{{Crossings navbox

|structure = Crossings

|place = Delaware River

|bridge = Walt Whitman Bridge

|bridge signs = 20px

|upstream = RiverLink Ferry

|upstream signs =

|downstream = Commodore Barry Bridge

|downstream signs = 25px

}}

Category:Delaware River Port Authority

Category:Gloucester City, New Jersey