Nobody has paid cash at the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge for almost two years. Cash collection on the Route 1 bridge stopped at 11 p.m. on January 12, 2025, and January 13 was the first full day of E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE only. The booths are still there, though, and the next round of work will reach well beyond them. Removing the plaza sets off the largest reshaping of Pennsylvania Avenue in years. The work is spread across the bridge commission, PennDOT and the borough, and each one is on its own calendar.
Pennsylvania Avenue is the common thread, and that's why this matters if you live here. The interchange at the south end, the signals at Bridge Street and Trenton Avenue, the canal crossing at Union Street, the canal bridge and the library at 300 North Pennsylvania Avenue all have work planned or underway. Taken together, they will change how the street drives and how it walks.
A Five-Lane Plaza With Nothing Left to Collect
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission says southbound drivers still have to slow down and pass through the bridge's old five-lane plaza, where tolls are now read electronically or billed by mail. That's a lot of traffic to slow down. The commission counted an average of 52,900 vehicles a day on the bridge in 2024, which it says is usually the second or third busiest crossing in its system.
The commission's Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge All Electronic Tolling (AET) and Pennsylvania Avenue Interchange Project calls for a three-lane overhead gantry with toll equipment and cameras. It would stand between the current plaza and the bridge's Pennsylvania abutment and handle traffic crossing from New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Drivers would go under it at highway speed without slowing for booths.
At a meeting in Yardley in July 2025, the commission approved a design contract with AtkinsRéalis USA Inc. for up to $3,357,885.85. The contract covers the new gantry and also plans for removing the old plaza and reconfiguring the Route 1/Pennsylvania Avenue interchange in Morrisville.
Two Ramps Out, One Roundabout In
The interchange is where Morrisville drivers will feel the change most. At the borough council meeting on September 15, the borough engineer said a short ramp he called hazardous will be removed and a roundabout built, after the toll booths come down. Citizen Portal's meeting record quotes his description of the new route:
"They're getting rid of 2 ramps, and you will be coming down South Pennsylvania Avenue. You will go around and then enter, by going 0.75 of the way in and then go up the ramp."
He described the start as tentatively scheduled for April. Citizen Portal's write-up of the meeting adds that the schedule could change and that residents were told to expect detours, congestion and temporary safety measures.
No year was given at the meeting. The commission's own timing points to 2027. In July 2025 it said design would wrap up by early summer 2026 and construction could begin as early as late fall 2026. A year later, its July 31, 2026 release moved that out, saying the larger project is "expected to get underway next year." The same release lists a third piece of the job: replacing the approach bridge that carries Route 1 over NJ Route 29 north in Trenton. The best current reading is a start in spring 2027. A construction contractor has not been announced.
The Work Already Happening Around the Bridge
Before the booths come down, a different commission project is already working near the bridge. In July 2026 the commission awarded the Trenton-Morrisville ESS Cameras and Highway Lighting Improvement Project. PKF-Mark III of Newtown has the construction contract for up to $7,724,000, and Urban Engineers, Inc. has construction management and inspection for up to $1,219,993.06. Work was expected to start by September and run about a year.
The commission says this project replaces the electrical system powering the highway lights on and around the bridge. That system dates to the 1950s, is prone to shorts, and has automatic on-off controls that don't work. Security cameras on the New Jersey side will also be hard-wired with fiber-optic feeds to the commission's new operations building in Morrisville. The commission calls this "separate and apart" from the interchange project. The lighting work is expected to run about a year, and the roundabout's tentative start comes roughly seven months after the lighting work began, so crews will likely be near the bridge from this fall into the roundabout's construction.
Up the Avenue, Project by Project
The interchange is only the south end. Heading north on Pennsylvania Avenue, every major point has something planned, and the agency in charge changes along the way.
| Location | What's planned | Who's driving it | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route 1 / Pennsylvania Ave interchange | Toll plaza demolition, two ramps removed, roundabout | DRJTBC with PennDOT | Expected to start in 2027, tentatively April |
| Pennsylvania Ave & Trenton Ave | Signal modernization with pedestrian countdowns, pushbuttons, LED signals, vehicle detection | Morrisville Borough | Engineering proposals due October 27, 2026 |
| Bridge St & Pennsylvania Ave, Bridge St & Delmorr Ave | Traffic signal improvements | Borough, funded by a $896,800 PennDOT Green Light-Go award | Funded; no construction date announced |
| Union Street canal crossing | Mid-street pedestrian island and rectangular rapid-flashing beacons | PennDOT | Planned; no date announced |
| Pennsylvania Ave over the Delaware Canal | Bridge replacement and towpath reconstruction, about $7.6 million | PennDOT | On PennDOT's list to bid or start in 2026 |
| Pennsylvania Avenue paving | Repaving | Borough and utilities | Held up by utility work |
Each row has its own story. The Trenton Avenue signal is the newest. The borough posted its request for engineering firms on October 13, and proposals are due October 27 at 11 a.m., so design is just getting started. The Bucks County Herald reported the Bridge Street signal money at the council's August 18 meeting, and that article gives no installation dates.
Pedestrians gain the most from the Union Street crossing. Staff told council that PennDOT will add a crosswalk island and flashing beacons where Union Street crosses the canal. At the same September meeting, residents asked council for more enforcement and better street design to deal with speeding on North Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Canal Bridge Touches the Towpath
The canal bridge is the one project on the list that reaches the towpath directly. On PennDOT's project page for the Pennsylvania Avenue over Delaware Canal Bridge Replacement, the construction detour uses Pennsylvania Avenue and the Delaware Canal Towpath. The towpath under the bridge will be rebuilt on an improved alignment with at least 7 feet, 6 inches of clearance. That page was last updated in December 2025. PennDOT District 6's April 29, 2026 announcement is more recent. It puts the roughly $7.6 million replacement among projects expected to go out for bid or begin construction in 2026, without a specific start date. If you walk, run or bike the canal, keep an eye on PennDOT's page for the detour notice.
The Library Is Part of It Too
The work on the avenue includes more than pavement. The Morrisville Free Library at 300 North Pennsylvania Avenue has been closed for renovations since September 5. The Bucks County Herald reported that the plans include new paint and flooring, a mural wallpaper, and new furnishings. A new library director was hired to start working with the construction team on layouts in mid-September. No reopening date has been announced.
Dates Already Set
Here's what has a firm date and what doesn't, for anyone planning around the work:
- October 27, 2026, 11 a.m.: Engineering proposals due for the Pennsylvania Avenue and Trenton Avenue signal project.
- November 4: Joint School Board and Borough Council meeting in the EDI Room at Morrisville High School.
- November 5: Economic Development Corporation meeting at Borough Hall, 35 Union Street.
- Fall 2026 into 2027: The commission's lighting and camera work around the bridge, which it expects to last about a year.
- 2027, tentatively April: Toll plaza demolition, then the roundabout.
Updates on Pennsylvania Avenue work have been coming through the borough's calendar and its monthly council meetings, which is where the September roundabout briefing was given.
I've lived in Yardley since 1985, and I know what it's like when the roads you drive every day start changing in pieces. If you have questions about how the Route 1 and Pennsylvania Avenue work could affect a sale or move on your Morrisville street over the next year, Amy VanDenburgh is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
