Skip to main content

Beesley's Point Bridge in Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey

Image
By
For those who take the Garden State Parkway down to Cape May, you may notice a bridge close by as you cross the Great Egg Harbor as you cross out of Atlantic County. That is the Beesley's Point Bridge, which connects Somers Point with Cape May County on US 9. Currently, the bridge has been closed down to vehicles due to unsafe traffic with said traffic routed on the nearby Garden State Parkway, but there are some quirks that makes this crossing a treasure. On a mild, yet windy February weekend in 2005, I had the unique opportunity of taking a walk down Beesley's Point Bridge and discovered some of the quirks of this private tolled crossing.

US 9 guide sign mentioning the weight limit of the bridge. Judging by what I saw from the bridge, that may be pushing it.

Looking southbound on the bridge. There are also a number of ads that dot the landscape of the bridge. I wonder how much one of the ads costs.

A jersey barrier serves as a blockade to most traffic at the south end of the bridge.

More space for advertisements.

A view looking north into Atlantic County.

Now looking north on the bridge, here's a good view of Great Egg Harbor and Somers Point. You can see some of the despair that the bridge is in. In other spots, you can see gaps in the pavement so deep you are actually looking at the water. I am not sure how effective those ads are on a closed bridge.

The toll booth for the Beesley's Point Bridge is in the middle of the bridge. The car you see is likely owned the bridge tender. Seems that the company that owns the bridge is still employing bridge tenders while the bridge is closed.

The Beesley's Point Bridge is pretty close to the span for the Garden State Parkway. That's Ocean City, NJ, in the distance.

As the Beesley's Point Bridge is a private bridge, the State of New Jersey is not in charge of maintaining it. The changeover is marked here.



A hole in the pavement.

Another hole in the pavement. Hello, water!

There is a power plant nearby along the southern shores of Great Egg Harbor. The curbs for the bridge are made of wood.
Signage listing the toll schedule for the Beesley's Point Bridge. If a passenger car were to take the nearby Garden State Parkway, only a 35 cent toll would be levied.

A old sign photo taken by Alex Nitzman of AARoads, taken in June 1997.
 As of the time of this blog post (August 16, 2016), the bridge is undergoing demolition. I had another chance to visit the Beesleys Point Bridge in December 2010. I don't believe that the bridge had ever reopened after my 2005 visit. Here are a few photos from that visit.



Labels:
Location: 9 Harbor Rd, Marmora, NJ 08223, USA

Comments

Anonymous said…
ARE YOU ALOUD TO CRAB ON THERE AND IS IT SAFE FOR A SOON TO BE 3 YEAT OLD
7:58 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

By
  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

By
Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...
Post a Comment
Read more