Great cities have great bridges. In Philadelphia, our great span is named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The Benjamin Franklin bridge currently carries highways I-676 and US 30, the latter since its opening or very soon thereafter. Before the 1953 New Jersey State Highway renumbering, Route 25, Route 43 and Route 45 ended in the middle of the bridge. The bridge also carries the Port Authority Transit Corporation’s Lindenwold High-Speed Line (PATCO Speedline) via connecting tunnels on both sides of the bridge. Pedestrian walkways run along both sides of the bridge, elevated over and separated from the vehicular lanes; of these, only one is open at a time. Walkway hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The DRPA closes the walkway after snowfall, or if the weather forecast includes a chance of snowfall.
If you get a chance and have the nerve walking over the bridge gives you some of the greatest views of the City of Philadelphia.
