On Thursday, Oct. 15, people brought lawn chairs to watch a bridge open. A couple from just over the line in Ridley Township told the Delaware County Daily Times that they hadn't realized how much they'd miss the crossing until it was gone. Getting to Double Decker Pizza had meant going around one way or the long way.
After the ribbon was cut, residents walked over the new span, and a line of classic and antique cars followed. The first car was a custom Corvette driven by borough resident Leon Pinto, with Mayor Bob Berger riding along. PennDOT District 6 Executive Din Abazi called it "probably the largest ribbon cutting we have ever had." The crowd had a reason. For four years, the Sellers Avenue Bridge was the gap in the middle of Ridley Park. The town's storefronts sat on one end of the route and its library and Borough Hall on the other.
The short span that holds the town center together
The bridge carries Sellers Avenue over the Amtrak and SEPTA lines. Its approaches run onto Ridley Avenue, Sellers Avenue/Ward Avenue, and Hinckley Avenue. On a map that's a few hundred feet. In daily use, it's how the business district along E. Hinckley and E. Sellers reaches the Ridley Park Public Library and the municipal offices. The Daily Times calls it a popular route between the two.
The 2022 closure covered pedestrians as well as cars. That made it more than a traffic detour. Anyone walking from a coffee on Hinckley to the library had to find another way across the tracks. At the ceremony, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon put it in these terms:
"It's such a joy to be here to see the bridge reopening, to see Ridley Park reconnected after what we all know has been a rough few years for this community to be divided the way it was."
Delaware County Council Vice Chair Christine Reuther told the crowd the closure had been "incredibly disrupting to the center, the heart of your town." Both officials described a town center cut in two, which is how the closure worked on the ground.
Four years, by the dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1904 | Original 71-foot bridge built by the American Bridge Co. of New York |
| 1952 | Bridge rebuilt |
| March 2022 | Weight limit set at 3 tons after a poor-condition rating |
| July 20, 2022 | PennDOT closes the bridge to all traffic, including pedestrians |
| April 28, 2026 | New west sidewalk opens to pedestrians |
| Oct. 15, 2026 | Bridge reopens to vehicles |
| Through 2027 | Landscaping, lighting, signal upgrades, and ADA curb ramps continue |
The bridge was carrying about 3,400 vehicles a day when it closed. PennDOT expects about that many again, and Abazi said the number should rise. The repair took longer than the closure. Borough officials had been pushing for an updated bridge for more than 12 years. State Sen. Tim Kearney said the money had been set aside, but stalled talks among the agencies involved held up the start.
He listed what made the site hard: Amtrak lines, SEPTA lines, overlapping township considerations, utilities, frozen winter ground, easements, and "a century old bridge sitting in the middle of it." He added that working construction around train schedules "is something I wouldn't wish on anybody."
What the detour meant for the storefronts
A closed crossing in a small downtown shows up first in the businesses beside it. In a DELCO.Today summary of CBS News Philadelphia's coverage, Jennifer Kearney of Jennifer Kearney Photography said her studio sat right inside the construction zone. She considered moving and said, "It's a little bit hard to do a newborn photo shoot when there's a jackhammer right outside." Loyal customers helped persuade her to stay.
Parking was the other problem. Machele Kortum, owner of Lux & Roses, told CBS she was thrilled that parking would open up. "There's parking wars around here for sure," she said, "and those roads being closed by the bridge is not helping." According to the same report, owners are counting on easier access and fewer detours to bring shoppers back downtown.
Sen. Kearney also credited the late former mayor Hank Eberle with keeping the project moving. He said the state will officially name the span the Hank Eberle Bridge.
The walk, end to end
With sidewalks now on both sides of the bridge, this short loop through the town center is open again. Addresses come from the Ridley Park Borough business directory and the Delaware County Libraries location list.
- Ridley Park Public Library, 107 E. Ward Ave. This is the civic end of the route, near Borough Hall at 105 E. Ward St.
- Over the Sellers Avenue Bridge. The new 75-foot concrete box-beam span has two 12-foot travel lanes.
- E. Sellers Avenue. Talluto's Ridley Park is at 20 E. Sellers Ave. and has been in town since 2013. Lux and Roses is at 22 E. Sellers Ave., and R. Park Tavern is at 26 E. Sellers Ave.
- E. Hinckley Avenue, the 10s and 20s. The BrickHaus Café is at 13 E. Hinckley Ave., Ridley Park Florist at 17, and Chill Out Chocolate Therapy at 19. Rosemary is at 25, China Wok at 27, and Double Decker Pizza at 29.
- Ridley Park station, 201 E. Hinckley Ave. This is the SEPTA stop at the far end of the business corridor.
Steps one and five are where the closure did its damage. Before April 28, a train commuter heading to the library, or a family walking from the Ward Avenue side to dinner on Hinckley, had no direct path across the tracks. The sidewalk reopened the walk in the spring. The October reopening brought back the cars and the curbside traffic the storefronts had been waiting for.
What is still unfinished
The bridge is open, but the project isn't done. PennDOT says landscaping, lighting, traffic signal upgrades, and ADA curb ramp installation will continue through 2027. Expect some work around the approaches on Ridley, Sellers/Ward, and Hinckley for a while yet. The PennDOT project page is the place to check for updates.
The new span keeps much of the old look. According to the CBS report summarized by DELCO.Today, PennDOT kept historic details, including decorative lighting, plaques, and masonry elements. New concrete was also placed behind the original stone masonry abutments for stability. Road-Con Inc. of West Chester was the general contractor on the $9.8 million reconstruction, which was paid for entirely with federal funds.
Nov. 28 on E. Hinckley Avenue
The bridge reopened the same week as the borough's Fall Festival and Car Show. The festival had been rescheduled to Sunday, Oct. 18, on E. Hinckley Avenue, and Mayor Berger called that weekend a "coming out party."
The next big date on the calendar is the Santa Parade and Holiday Village. The Recreation Board is running it on E. Hinckley Avenue in the center of town on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 3 to 7 p.m. That's the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It will be the first holiday parade since the 2022 closure held with the full route between the library side and the Hinckley storefronts open to both cars and people on foot.
The parade sits right in front of the 13-to-29 block of E. Hinckley. BrickHaus, Chill Out Chocolate Therapy, Ridley Park Florist, and Double Decker Pizza are all within a short walk of the route. The SEPTA station is at the far end of the corridor for anyone coming in by train.
I've done sales and lease work in Ridley Park, and the bridge has been a running topic in nearly every one of those conversations since 2022. If you're wondering how a reconnected Hinckley and Ward could affect your block or your plans for next year, Gavin LaRocca is happy to walk it with you. Let's Connect.
