The Lambertville record., 1925-12-10
Opposed To Freeing
W00den Bridges
Chairman OF Free Bridge Commits
sion Says They Are Menace
To Traffic

To Traffic
At the Joint Meeting of the New
Jersey--Pennsylvania Commission for
the Elimination of Toll BRIGGS over
the Delaware River, held in Phila-
delphia last Friday, Pennsylvania
State Treasurer Samuel S. Lewis
who is chairman of the Joint Com
mission, emphatically that he is OPP
posed to taking over a number OF
antiquated bridges which are still
collecting tolls. And his opinion was
heartily endorsed by the other mem.
bers of the Commission. Joseph w
Cooper, Commissioner from Lambert
vile, was present at the meeting.
Mr.. Lewis, in company with New
Jersey Commissioner Louis Focht
and who is engineer and superin-
tendent for the Joint Commission,
recently made tour of all bridges
over the Delaware. Mr.. Lewis is
also a member of the Camden-Phila-
delphia Bridge Commission, and is
keenly interested in interstate bridge
traffic. His statements at the meet
ing last Friday, and which were
given to the press, were the results
of his observations on the tour.
"Tbere remain but eight bridges
for the consideration of the Com
mission" said Mr.. Lewis, "and with
out exception, in my opinion, the
owners of these bridges are holding
them at very exhorbitant price. In
fact, the capitalization of their in
comes would in no sense justify the
prices asked" As State Treasurer of
Pennsylvania, Mr.. Lewis has access
to tax reports filed by these bridge
companies, and he has found that in
every case the asking prices for
their structures are several times
greater than the values listed in
their reports.
"To be perfectly frank" continued
Mr.. Lewis, ~ am opposed to taking
over a number of these wooden
bridges. It would simply be obli-
eating the States of New Jersey
and Pennsylvania to embark upon
an extensive program of mainten-
ance and repair, and possibly an
obligation for replacement. A num-
ber of these wooden bridges are
Of old-style truss construction, AND
ENTIRELY INADEQUATE TO
PRESENT-DAY TRANSPORTA-
TION. 1T WOULD BE FAR BET
TER IN VIEW OF THE ATTITUDE
OF THE OWNERS OF THESE
BRIDGES FOR THE TWO STATES
TO SELECT CONVENIENT SITES
BETWEEN THE BRIDGES AL
READY TAKEN OVER AND TO
ERECT ENTIRELY NEW STRUC-
TURES."
During the discussion reference
was made to the Calhoun st. Bridge
in Trenton. This is an old structure
in a bad state of repair. The own
ers first demanded 100000 for it,
but more recently indicated that they
would consider s500,000. But as a
matter of fact, the physical value Of
the structure has been fixed by en-
gineers as being only slightly over
100000, AND A NEW BRIDGE
COULD BE BUILT THERE FOR
$225, 900.
The Commissions appropriations
are not sufficient to pay the exhorbi-
tant price demanded for the Cal
houn st. Bridge, even if it were
worth it, because the funds are lin
tied. Engineer Abram Swan, of the
Trenton City Commission, appeared
at the meeting urging that the Cal
houn st. Bridge be freed to relieve
the traffic congestion in the centre
of Trenton, and he was told that
the Commission heartily favored
freeing the bridge if it could be
bought for its actual value. And the
Commission let il be clearly known
that it is not only trying to free
the bridges for the convenience Of
public traffic, but is also trying to
conserve the taxpayers interest in
buying the bridges at reasonable fig
ures.
Mr.. Lewis went on to say that he
favored immediate steps for provid-
ing a free bridge on the upper
reaches of the Delaware between
Easton and Milford, Pa. There are
four toll bridges between those
points, and as they are antiquated
structures for the most part, and
exhorbitant prices are demanded for
them, he favored the acquisition OF
a site and the building of a new
bridge to connect with state high
ways on both sides of the river.