Ben Franklin Bridge to close for pope, NJ reacts

CAMDEN, N.J. -- New Jersey residents are reacting to the decision to shut down the Ben Franklin Bridge to vehicular traffic during Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia.

Visitors, workers, and area residents will have to find alternate routes, especially if the Ben Franklin Bridge is part of your daily commute.

MORE: Major highway closures in Philly announced for pope visit

Renee Crouse of Collingswood, and her husband, attend church in Philadelphia. But with the bridge closed and much of the city closed to vehicles, she may miss out on Sunday services.

"I think I need to bring it up to our church of how people are going to do it. There are quite a few people from south Jersey who go to that particular church," she said.

Students and staff at Rutgers-Camden will also be making adjustments.

"The majority of our students commute, they drive, they take public transportation, and for them to go to class we need to make sure they can get to class," said Mike Sepanic.

The campus will be shut down Friday the 25th and won't reopen until Monday morning, September 28th, though morning classes will be cancelled because the bridge doesn't reopen until 12 p.m. that Monday.

The university says there's enough advance warning for faculty and students to adjust their schedules.

Large employers, like Campbell's Soup, say they are still trying to work out logistics.

A lot of people in South Jersey use the Ben Franklin Bridge every day to get to work.

That includes Jules Iannacone's wife.

"She is going to take off that Friday. She is not going to travel into Philadelphia with all that traffic," he said.

Others, even though they live across the river from the city, say they plan to clear out.

"My wife and I, we're going to go over to Hyannis, go to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket for the weekend," said Les Kaighn of Blackwood.

The bridge will remain open to pedestrians, and folk who need to get over to the Pennsylvania side will still have alternatives like the Walt Whitman Bridge, the Betsy Ross Bridge, the Commodore Barry Bridge and the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.