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LAMBERTVILLE: Line on bridge divides New Jersey, Pennsylvania (updated)

As the old adage goes, "You have to draw the line somewhere."
That certainly was the case for the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC), which has painted a tri-color state line on the walkway for the New Hope-Lambertville toll-supported bridge.
The boundary marking was the idea of Ian Sanders, a 12-year-old Lambertville student who wrote a letter to the commission late last year requesting the agency to designate where the state line falls on his local bridge’s walkway.
On Thursday, Aug. 28, the line was formerly unveiled by Ian as commission representatives, local officials, history enthusiasts and his family applauded with approval.
Ian said Tuesday the ceremony but "really fun," but he was little taken aback by the 10 to 15 of people snapping photos. It probably was less intimidating than Tuesday, his first day taking the bus ride to South Hunterdon Regional High School, where 7th graders like him attend, too.
The state line location was ascertained through Google satellite images. The colors in the line are identical to the colors in the commission’s logo: the green representing the wooded hills of Pennsylvania, the buff-gold color representing the sands of New Jersey and the white center line representing the Delaware River between the two states. The commission’s full name and logo appear on the white stripe. The words Pennsylvania and New Jersey are painted in white on their respective colored stripes.
Painting of the line began in July and took several weeks due to weather, other maintenance responsibilities and the fact that the bridge’s walkway is heavily used by pedestrians. It is, in fact, the most heavily traveled walkway of any bridge along the Delaware River, according to the commission. The detailed lettering was done by hand by two veteran maintenance workers: Michael Gazzillo and Aaron Schermerhorn, who both have strong ties to the New Hope-Lambertville area.
The line has proved to be a popular addition to the bridge. A daytime hour seldom passes when a family or a group of visitors isn’t seen posing for a picture at the line or a young person takes a selfie at the line. On other occasions, individuals walking across the bridge will stop at the line and then proceed to jump back and forth between the two states.
The commission opted to install the state line as part of bridge’s crossing the 200thanniversary year. The original wooden covered bridge at the location was built by private investors and declared "ready for crossing" on Sept. 12, 1814. The bridge operated with a schedule of tolls intended to reimburse its shareholders; different toll rates applied for individual heads of livestock, pedestrians, horse-drawn wagons, etc.
Half of that bridge was washed away in the "bridge freshet" of 1841 and rebuilt within a year. The entire structure ultimately was destroyed in the Great Pumpkin Flood of 1903. The current steel superstructure was constructed on the partial remains of the original stone piers and opened the following year.
Few people may realize this, but the bridge crossing actually was operated longer as a privately toll franchise than it has as a publicly owned non-toll facility. The bridge was in private hands for 105 years, from 1814 to 1919. It has been in public hands for 95 years, first by the two states and then being transferred outright to the Commission on July 1, 1987.
The commission currently pays for the operation and maintenance of the bridge through a portion of the tolls collected at its seven toll bridges.
The Lambertville Historical Society, New Hope Historical Society and Lambertville Station Restaurant and Inn are organizing a free community open house to mark the bridge’s bicentennial. The event is to take place at the Lambertville Station Inn’s Riverside Ballroom between 1 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13.
In addition to Ian Sanders, Thursday’s state line unveiling at the bridge included his parents, Ward and Erica Sanders, and his sister, Lilly; DRJTBC Commissioner Yuki Moore Laurenti of New Jersey; DRJTBC Executive Director Joseph Resta; New Hope Mayor Lawrence Keller; Dee Dee Bowman and Deborah Lang of the New Hope Historical Society; Jeff McVey of the Lambertville Historical Society; and Tara Shepherd, executive director of HART Commuter Information Services.
Ward Sanders also is a councilman in Lambertville.