By: Billy BeerSlugger
The Ben Franklin Bridge is 9,573 feet long which equates to about a 3.5 mile run up and back from Philly to Camden. If you’re like me right now and are scrambling to lose weight because summer already started, this is a great workout.
The Bridge walkway is open from 6am to 9pm so you can even get a run in after you get home from work.
There is an even mix of hills and declines with the middle span of the bridge being more or less of a straight away. Along your journey you may encounter other people walking, running or cycling. Please watch out for them if you are wearing headphones and are blasting music on high, you may just run into a biker.
The Ben Franklin Bridge was originally named the Delaware River Bridge but was later renamed for statesman and Philadelphian, Benjamin Franklin.
When the bridge opened in 1926 it was the deemed the World’s largest Suspension Bridge Span (533 meters) until that distinction was taken away in 1929 with the opening of the Ambassador Bridge.
Originally one lane of the bridge, in each direction, was fitted with Streetcar/Trolley tracks and the anchorages were outfitted as boarding stations. These stations were never used though since the company owning the Camden Streetcar system ceased operations in 1932. The streetcar rails were taken up and replaced with another lane for vehicles going in each direction. Eventually rapid transit tracks were laid on outbound sides of the bridge completed in 1939. The Bridge Line Subway connected Broadway and City Hall in Camden with 8th and Market in Philadelphia. The Bridge Line expanded to 16th and Locust in 1952 and began carrying PATCO trains in 1969.
While using pedestrian means to cross the bridge is free, it now costs $4.00 to use the bridge coming from the Camden side into Philadelphia by car.