The Great Egg Harbor Bridge is a toll bridge along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey, with tolls collected in the southbound direction. It crosses the Great Egg Harbor Bay, connecting Upper Township, in Cape May County to Somers Point in Atlantic County. The bridge crosses over a section of Egg Harbor Township.
The speed limit is 45 mph between Milepost 27 to Milepost 29, approaching and traversing the Great Egg Harbor Bridge, one of two stretches on the Parkway where the speed limit is so reduced (the other is between Milepost 126.7 and 127.7, approaching and traversing the Driscoll Bridge). The bridge runs just parallel to US 9 as it too crosses over the water. The Beesley's Point Generating Station can be seen past the US 9 bridge.
The southbound bridge was built in 1955 while the northbound bridge was built in 1973.
Before the Great Egg Harbor Bridge was completed, traffic on the Garden State Parkway was detoured onto US 9 and over the Beesley's Point Bridge. This old alignment still exists today and is slowly being consumed by nature.
In a twist of fate, Route 9 is now detoured onto the Great Egg Harbor Bridge as US 9 Temporary. The Beesley's Point Bridge immediately to the west has deteriorated in the marine environment and has been closed to traffic since June 2004.
In 2013, a project will begin to replace the southbound bridge and improve the northbound bridge. The project will also demolish the adjacent Beesley's Point Bridge.
Famous quotes containing the words egg, harbor and/or bridge:
“The egg is the symbol of perfection. Do you want an egg?”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“It is said that the British Empire is very large and respectable, and that the United States are a first-rate power. We do not believe that a tide rises and falls behind every man which can float the British Empire like a chip, if he should ever harbor it in his mind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Oh, who will now be able to relate how Pantagruel behaved in face of these three hundred giants! Oh my muse, my Calliope, my Thalie, inspire me now, restore my spirits, because here is the ass’s bridge of logic, here is the pitfall, here is the difficulty of being able to describe the horrible battle undertaken.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)