Betsy Ross Bridge

he Betsy Ross Bridge is a continuous truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was originally planned as the Delair Bridge, after a paralleling vertical lift bridge owned by Pennsylvania Railroad (now used by Conrail and NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line), but was instead named for Betsy Ross, reputed creator of the first American flag, making it only the second bridge in the United States to be named after a woman (after Iowa's Kate Shelley High Bridge in 1912.

 

Construction began in 1969, and was completed in 1974. However, the bridge did not open to traffic until April 1976 due to numerous problems with the communities where the bridge's ramps to and from Richmond Street were located. The problems (concerns over traffic, especially heavy trucks) were also related to the route's planned extension across Northeast Philadelphia to the Roosevelt Expressway.

 

The cancellation of this extension, the planned PA 90 (Pulaski Expressway) resulted in so-called "Evel Knievel" ghost ramps – unfinished bridges and fly-over ramps, some of which were later constructed to serve Aramingo Avenue in the city's Bridesburg section. Currently, the route serves as a high-level multi-lane (six lanes, separated by a concrete median barrier) bypass of the three-lane Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, which has a drawbridge on the span.