An Old Seashore Bridge May Get a New Classification

It’s been a long time since the Corson’s Inlet drawbridge was raised in the upright position to let a boat pass underneath – 2013, in fact.

Boats that would be large enough to require a bridge opening simply don’t make use of the Corson’s Inlet channel because it too shallow for them.

However, the Cape May County Bridge Commission must keep paid bridge tenders on duty because Corson’s Inlet is technically considered a drawbridge.

Hoping to save some money, the bridge commission is seeking permission now from the U.S. Coast Guard to reclassify Corson’s Inlet from a drawbridge to a “permanently fixed bridge.”

If the request is granted by the Coast Guard, the commission would no longer have to pay bridge tenders to work at the Corson’s Inlet Bridge – and perform a job that’s no longer needed.

“Any vessel large enough to require an opening does not make use of that channel. Stated another way, most all of the navigable surrounding water is very shallow and thus marine passage for vessels that would require bridge openings is restrictive,” said Kevin Lare, the bridge commission’s executive director.

    The proposal to reclassify the bridge would have no impact on motor vehicle traffic.
  

The Coast Guard is seeking public comment on the proposal to reclassify the bridge until June 10. This Letter describes the proposal in more detail.

Currently, the Corson’s Inlet drawbridge is manned by bridge tenders on a limited schedule during the boating season, Lare said. Bridge tenders wouldn’t be needed at all if the Coast Guard reclassifies it as a “permanently fixed bridge,” he noted.

“We do not anticipate any negative impacts on boaters given the historic usage.  It is a small boat thorofare,” Lare said in an email.

The Corson’s Inlet Bridge is an old-fashioned drawbridge built in the 1940s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal infrastructure projects to create jobs during the Great Depression.

Despite its old age, the toll bridge remains an important transportation link at the Jersey Shore, handling some 328,000 vehicles traveling between the southern tip of Ocean City and Strathmere in 2024.

It is one of five toll bridges operated by the Cape May County Bridge Commission that connect the Cape May County shore communities from Ocean City to Cape May along the scenic Ocean Drive.

Lare said the bridge’s reclassification as a permanently fixed bridge, if granted, would have no impact on motor vehicle traffic.