New Jersey officials 'doing everything' to fix broken Middle Thorofare Bridge

After a motor failure over the weekend, the Middle Thorofare Bridge in Lower Township is sitting in the open position, closed to vehicles, and it may be like that for weeks.

"We're doing everything we can to get this bridge back in operation," said Kevin Lare, executive director of the Cape May County Bridge Commission Monday afternoon.

He says the highly specialized motor, which failed on Saturday, will take months to replace.

But they're also working to install a smaller backup motor that may not take as long.

"We're hopeful that an auxiliary motor can be procured and installed within a week to ten days," Lare said.

The bridge sits in Lower Township and is a widely used route that connects Wildwood Crest and other nearby towns with the city of Cape May.

Rachel Hansen owns The Crab House at Two Mile Landing on the side closest to Wildwood Crest. She also owns H&H Seafood on the other side, and she worries about the rest of the season.

"We had people coming from Avalon saying they didn't know how to get here without using that bridge," Hansen said. "So it's not just the Cape May traffic. A lot of people come south on the parkway."

Hansen says they're now bringing crabs over to the restaurant by boat because they can't drive them across the bridge from the seafood market just on the other side.

Local officials are also concerned about the timing and the impacts.

"It could add an extra 20 minutes to people's commutes. It's a major thoroughfare for this whole area. Cape May, Wildwood Crest, but it affects North Wildwood, Wildwood, it's a lot of towns in one area," Cape May Mayor Zachary Mullock said.

Mullock also said he called the governor's office Monday morning to make sure they were aware of the dire situation.

Lare says as of now, they can handle the fix with county resources.

He says the auxiliary motor would cost less than $10,000. He did not have a cost estimate for the primary motor.

Lare stressed that the bridge is structurally sound.

He also said the bridge is slated to be replaced, but that project is just about to enter the design phase this fall and it will be some time before work begins.

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