The Big Commuter Bridges in Philadelphia

Walt Whitman Bridge in Philly

Walt Whitman Bridge in Philly

How many of you have a fear of driving over super big bridges? For those of you who do, do you have this same fear when your riding as a passenger or only if you’re driving?

We live 90 minutes from Philadelphia in Pennsylvania and one thing I hate every time we go down to Philly or have to drive through Philly to go to the Jersey Shore is crossing one of the city’s super big bridges. Seriously, I hate them!

Commodore Barry Bridge in Philly

Commodore Barry Bridge in Philly

I have had a big bridge phobia – Gephyrophobia – since I was a small child. I’m okay with the little bridges, but big bridges that go over large bodies of water and are multi-lane, super-highways, well…I don’t dig those at all. Matter of fact, I have to take anti-anxiety medication about 10-15 minutes before we hit either one of those bridges in Philly.

The Walt Whitman Bridge runs through downtown Philadelphia and is the scariest of the bridges in Philly. The Commodore Barry Bridge runs through the southern area of the city and isn’t quite as scary. BOTH are multi-lanes and BOTH are toll bridges, that’s part of the issue because travelers are never in their correct lanes and go back & forth lane hopping as you’re going across. UGH!!! The tractor trailers make it even worse.

So, for our travel feature this week I thought I would show you two of the bridges that are located in Philly Pennsylvania and I would admit to all of you that I have a big bridge phobia! Do you? If so, tell me about it!

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Comments

  1. Jo-Ann Brightman says

    I do not have a fear of bridges, but after reading your post and the comments on it I can understand why some people could freak out crossing them. I would be very nervous if there was an earthquake or strong wind as I cross a bridge.

  2. Nope big bridges dont bother me much. We dont have any huge ones nearby but I have been on aa few. The ones over the Mississippi are the closest, but they really arent big at all. We went over one going to Key West (we drove here) and I thought the bridge was cool and just loved it.
    I imagine some are worse than others. I do have a nice who closes her eyes on almost any big bridge!

  3. Tamra Phelps says

    Have you ever seen the bridge in Michigan called the Mackinac Bridge (spelling might be wrong, lol.) –it connects the upper peninsula to the rest of the state, I think. Because of the weather & big winds, the bridge’s roadway has sections that are metal with holes to let the wind through. So, you look down & see the water. This freaks people out so bad that they panic & can’t go on. The bridge has patrols that will get in your car & drive you the rest of the way across, lolol. I know I can NEVER cross this bridge because I’m afraid of heights! (Normal bridges don’t bother me.)

  4. Bridges make me nervous because in my mind, all I can imagination is all that can go wrong when you’re on the bridge and crossing over. However, they sure are beautiful and it’s amazing to me to think about how it was built so long ago.

  5. I love driving and road trips, so no, I’m totally fine with the huge bridges. I drive non-stop if I want to get some place and try to plan around the rush hour traffic but not much bothers me. I miss the trips to Colorado from LA, but those were always so scenic and no scary bridges, lol, just lovely mountains.

  6. Oh I so love this post! I am with you Shelly, I too hate going over bridges they totally scare me. The little ones aren’t so bad because if you go fast boom you’re done but these big ones are way scary. I totally Freak OUT every time I go over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco because one it’s huge and two because it’s in earthquake territory I mean any second they could have a big earthquake and there you are on the bridge.