This is New Jersey’s scariest bridge

Memories of the first time we crossed this bridge are still burned in my mind. We just moved to New Jersey and our next-door neighbor had a boat.

Coming from a city rowhome neighborhood, we didn't know anybody with a boat. He invited us to go on his boat that he launched on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River.

My dad and I got in his car and followed the neighbor the short ride to the other side of the river, right near the Burlington-Bristol Bridge. As we crossed the bridge, I noticed the look on my dad's face grew concerned. He rarely looked that worried and then I looked out the window of the car.

We were used to the Walt Whitman Bridge which connects South Philly to South Jersey. Seven lanes and plenty of space for hundreds of cars. This was something I had never seen before. My dad actually considered driving several miles out of the way south on I-95 to take one of the other bridges.

The boat ride was uneventful but getting to and from the boat over that bridge was the real adventure that evening.

It's not the smallest or most narrow bridge over the Delaware. You've got the Washington Crossing Bridge in Hopewell, the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge, or the Calhoun Street Bridge in Trenton. They're all narrow and tight, but the Burlington Bristol Bridge is high, very high. It kind of feels like you're going on an amusement park ride. There are lots of people who refuse to drive over it.

If there is ever an accident on the bridge, and there have been over the years, you're screwed.

It's safe and well maintained by the authority that runs it. Of course, there's a bridge commission to run it, it's New Jersey after all.

The two-lane bridge took about a year to complete in 1930 and 1931 and connects Burlington, New Jersey, and Bristol, Pennsylvania. Both towns have a good choice of check cashing places and gentlemen's clubs, so there's that. I drove over it recently as a shortcut to get home and the memories came flooding back.

Enjoy the ride.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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