The commission also reported Monday morning that overall toll revenue across its seven toll bridges increased in May compared to the same time last year.
View full sizeThe Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission expects its Interstate 78 repaving project to be fully completed by the end of July. With paving completed on both sides of Interstate 78 earlier this month, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission's toll bridge project will most likely be completed by the end of July, officials announced Monday.
The $17.5 million repaving project began in September.
It is one of two major ongoing commission projects in the area as the two-year rehabilitation project for the Easton-Phillipsburg Route 22 toll bridge got underway last week.
Executive Director Joseph Resta said early results appear to show that motorists are heeding the commission's advice and traveling along Interstate 78 rather than Route 22 in an effort to reduce traffic congestion. As the I-78 project nears its final stage, it will be even more prepared to handle the added traffic, he said.
"(Interstate 78) will now have the full capacity to handle current and future traffic from the Easton (and) Phillipsburg area," Resta said.
The commission also reported this morning that overall toll revenue across its seven toll bridges increased in May compared to the same time last year.
May marked the second straight month that the commission has seen an increase since March, when the commission reported decreases in both overall toll revenue and traffic.
According to the report, total toll revenue increased by 4.3 percent in May. In April, the commission recorded a 5.2 percent revenue increase.
Total toll traffic numbers last month also saw a spike from the same time last year as the commission reported an overall increase of 21,540 commercial and passenger vehicles combined.
March saw an overall decrease of more than 21,000 tolled vehicles compared to March 2012 and April also saw a decrease of over 9,000 total tolled vehicles.
Among the toll bridges connecting Warren and Northampton counties, the Easton-Phillipsburg Route 22 toll bridge was for a second straight month the only crossing to experience an increase in toll traffic in May as it recorded a 5.53 percent increase of just under 26,000 more vehicles.
The I-78 toll bridge saw a 3.75 percent decrease while the Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge saw a 5.56 percent total traffic decrease.
The Delaware Water Gap toll bridge recorded more total traffic for a third straight month with a 2.85 percent total increase, up from the slim hike of 0.15 percent it experienced in April. The New-Hope Lambertville toll bridge in Hunterdon County also reported a 3.81 percent increase.