The Walt Whitman Bridge is a single-level suspension bridge spanning the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the west to Gloucester City in Camden County, New Jersey in the east. The bridge is named after American poet and essayist Walt Whitman, who resided in nearby Camden toward the end of his life. Walt Whitman Bridge is in length, making it one of the larger bridges on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

. The bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. The bridge is a part of Interstate 76, which, between the

and the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania King of Prussia (nicknamed K.O.P.) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community took its unusual name in the 18th century from a loca ...

, is known as the Schuylkill Expressway; this was originally part of Interstate 676's route until it switched positions with I-76 in 1972. Along with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which carried I-76 until 1972, and has carried I-676 since, the Betsy Ross Bridge, Delaware Memorial Bridge, Commodore Barry Bridge, and Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, the Walt Whitman Bridge is one of six expressway-standard bridges connecting the Philadelphia area with Southern New Jersey.

Design and construction

The bridge was designed by noted civil engineer Othmar Ammann, responsible for a number of historic bridges in the New York City metropolitan area. Construction began in 1953, and it opened to traffic on May 16, 1957. The bridge has a total length of , and a main span of . The bridge has seven lanes, three in each direction and a center lane that is shifted variably (via a zipper barrier) to accommodate heavy traffic. The ''Walt Whitman'' statue by Jo Davidson was placed at the intersection of Broad Street and Packer Avenue, in Philadelphia near the approach to the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Name

The controversy that surrounded the naming of the Walt Whitman Bridge has been documented in a series of letters from members of the public held in the Kislak Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The Center summarizes the controversy, saying, "The bridge was meant to be named after a person of note who had lived in New Jersey, but some area citizens opposed the name 'Walt Whitman Bridge'...Many objecting to the choice of his name for the bridge saw Whitman's work as sympathizing with communist ideals and criticized him for his egalitarian view of humanity."

Tolls

A $6.00 one-way toll is charged to westbound passenger vehicles (less than or equal gross vehicle weight) traveling from New Jersey to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. A $18 credit will be given on a per tag basis for any New Jersey-issued E-ZPass tag that crosses one of the four DRPA bridges 18 times in a calendar month. Trucks, commercial vehicles, mobile homes and recreation vehicles (weighing at least gross vehicle weight) pay $9.00 per axle. Seniors aged 65 and over with an NJ E-ZPass can use a discount program to pay $3.00 per trip. There is no toll for eastbound vehicles traveling from Pennsylvania to New Jersey since 1992, when one-way tolls were instituted. On July 17, 2024, the DRPA approved an increase in the toll for passenger vehicles from $5.00 to $6.00, which went into effect on September 1, 2024.

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References

External links