Good news, everyone: The Delaware River Port Authority received a $4 million grant for a new ramp on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
Work may finally begin on the ramp after several years of delays, plans, bids, applying for money, and what have you.
According to the Courier-Post,
The new $3.78 million federal grant from a new program within the Federal Highway Administration, plus a $400,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation brings total grant revenue for the project to almost $4.2 million.
During a report to the DRPA board Wednesday, CEO John Hanson praised Barbara Holcolm, DRPA capital projects grant manager, for securing the grant.
“This is the first grant from that agency since the law was changed to allow toll agencies to receive federal highway funding,” he said.
The plans to open the ramp in early 2018 have been consistently pushed back due to huge bids on the contract (ranging from $8 million to $15 million, much higher than anticipated). If all goes according to plan now, we’re hoping the project could get started by the end of this year, or early next year. We will update as more information on this project becomes official.