PATCO train hits and kills two workers on Ben Franklin Bridge
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Ben Franklin Bridge
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Two workers were hit and killed by a Port Authority Transit Corp. (PATCO) train on the Ben Franklin Bridge Friday night.
According to the Camden Courier-Post, the bridge connects downtown Philadelphia to Camden, and has tracks on either side of the bridge. The Courier-Post reported that the workers were on the bridge’s north side, where one would be if traveling into Philadelphia.
The bridge is on PATCO’s Speedline, which runs between Lindenwold, N.J., and Philadelphia. The workers were employees of the JRC Group, which is a construction contractor with offices in Blackwood, N.J., and Philadelphia. They were working on a long-term rehabilitation project for the bridge which began in March 2020 and is scheduled for completion in December 2024.
The bridge provides service with seven lanes of automotive traffic, the PATCO train service and a pedestrian walkway. The bridge required a little over four years to build, and opened for traffic on July 1, 1926.
The bridge was originally named the Delaware River Bridge, but was changed to the Ben Franklin Bridge in 1955, as another Delaware River Bridge was being constructed, which was named the Walt Whitman Bridge.
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