Townsend's Inlet Bridge in New Jersey won't be ready for Memorial Day
SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- Borough of Avalon, New Jersey officials said on Thursday there is no indication of when the construction on the Townsend's Inlet Bridge will be complete.
The bridge connects Sea Isle City to Avalon.
Those officials also say they've been told by Cape May County engineers the bridge construction will not be complete by Memorial Day weekend.
With roads getting fresh paint lines and the finishing touches being put on new homes, the shore is getting ready for another summer season.
On Thursday we spoke with heating and plumbing contractor Said Moukhlis. He's one of many people who do business on both sides of the bridge.
It's taking them a lot of extra time to commute, and that means money.
He said, "The bridge being closed now... it hurts."
Heather Phillips is the manager at Surfside Fitness with locations in Sea Isle and Avalon.
Right now she doesn't see a way of how she can run both.
She said, "This summer without the bridge, we're going to have to hire two separate staffs for each facility."
In fact, she doesn't know how she'll even get to Avalon. She only has a bike so she can't take the detour.
Phillips said, "This is basically my livelihood in the summer. It's being able to go back and forth and hop that bridge back and forth."
The recommended detour route to get back and forth is to take either Sea Isle Boulevard or Avalon Boulevard out to Route 9, which has one lane in each direction.
It took us about 20 minutes to get from one side to the other, but in the summer there's going to be much more traffic.
The County of Cape May is in charge of the project.
We haven't heard back from them.
According to Avalon Borough spokesperson Scott Wahl they barely have either.
He says the last update was February 28th.
He said, "The economies of both Avalon and Sea Isle City are both greatly dependent on people being able to go over this bridge."
Calls and e-mails to Cape May County have not been returned.
