Pennsylvania Act 1923-450 — BRIDGES OVER THE DELAWARE RIVER

Act text

BRIDGES OVER THE DELAWARE RIVER
                 Act of Jul. 13, 1923, P.L. 1093, No. 450             Cl. 36
                               A SUPPLEMENT

     To the act, approved the ninth day of July, one thousand nine
        hundred and nineteen (Pamphlet Laws, eight hundred and
        fourteen), entitled "An act providing for the erection and
        construction by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the
        State of New Jersey of a bridge over the Delaware River,
        connecting the city of Philadelphia and the city of Camden,
        and the approaches thereto; providing for a joint commission
        for that purpose, and defining its powers and duties;
        providing for an independent commission in this Commonwealth
        in relation thereto, and defining its powers and duties;
        providing for the payment of a part of the cost thereof by
        the city of Philadelphia; and providing for the acquiring,
        taking, and condemnation of the real estate for the site and
        approaches thereof; providing for the turning over of said
        bridge upon its completion; and making an appropriation for
        the purposes of this act," as amended by an act, approved the
        twenty-sixth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and
        twenty-one (Pamphlet Laws, two hundred eighty-seven);
        extending the power and authority of the Delaware River
        Bridge Joint Commission, and its successors, to provide for
        equipment of the Delaware River bridge with facilities for
        railway, railroad, motor bus, vehicles, or other means of
        transportation, also for telegraph, telephone, electric, or
        other public service facilities; authorizing operation,
        maintenance, and leasing thereof; providing for the fixing
        and collection of charges, rates, rentals, or tolls therefor;
        and authorizing the making of contracts or leases for use and
        occupation of property acquired.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That in addition to the
     powers conferred by an act, approved the ninth day of June, one
     thousand nine hundred and nineteen (Pamphlet Laws, eight hundred
     fourteen), entitled "An act providing for the erection and
     construction by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State
     of New Jersey of a bridge over the Delaware River, connecting
     the city of Philadelphia and the city of Camden, and the
     approaches thereto; providing for a joint commission for that
     purpose, and defining its powers and duties; providing for an
     independent commission in this Commonwealth in relation thereto,
     and defining its powers and duties; providing for the payment of
     a part of the cost thereof by the city of Philadelphia; and
     providing for the acquiring, taking, and condemnation of the
     real estate for the site and approaches thereof; providing for
     the turning over of said bridge upon its completion; and making
     an appropriation for the purposes of this act," and its
     amendments, the said joint commission is hereby further
     authorized and empowered to exercise the following additional
     powers, and perform the following additional duties:
        Said joint commission is hereby authorized and empowered to
     have prepared the necessary and proper plans and specifications,
     and to build, construct, and equip, or have built, constructed,
     or installed the equipment of, the said bridge and the
     approaches and plazas appurtenant thereto, together with rails,
     tracks, or other appliances and facilities, in such number and
     kind and in such manner as may be decided upon by the said joint
     commission, for the use of railroad trains or street passenger
     railway cars, or both, or other vehicles or means of
     transportation operated by electric, steam, or other motive
     power, together with such stations, platforms, signals,
     switches, towers, conduits, pipes, wiring, and electric or other
     power transmission facilities and substations, in connection
     therewith, as may be deemed necessary or convenient. The said
     joint commission shall have power to provide any and all other
     equipment, including power houses and power generating
     facilities, rolling stock, engines, cars, or other vehicles or
     transportation facilities, as may be deemed necessary or
     convenient for use in connection with the operation of said
     railways or railroads or other vehicles or transportation
     facilities across the said bridge.
        Section 2.  The said joint commission is hereby authorized
     and empowered to enter into leases or other contracts or
     agreements with one or more corporations, companies, firms, or
     individuals, having power to install or operate electric street
     passenger railways, or electric elevated or subway railways, or
     any other kind of electric railway, or any steam railroad, or
     other means of transportation, in one or both of the
     municipalities in which said bridge and its approaches and the
     plazas appurtenant thereto are located, for the installation,
     operation, or maintenance, by the said contracting corporation
     or corporations, company or companies, firm or firms, individual
     or individuals, of the said railway or railroad or other
     transportation facilities on and across said bridge for the
     benefit of the public; or, in its discretion, the said joint
     commission may itself install, maintain, use, operate, or
     provide for the installation, maintenance, use, and operation of
     the said railway, railroad, or other transportation facilities,
     without entering into any lease or contract with an operating
     corporation, company, firm, or individual for that purpose; or
     the said joint commission may maintain, use, and operate any
     part or portion of the said facilities and contract for the
     maintenance, use, and operation of any other part or portion
     thereof.
        Section 3.  The said joint commission is also hereby further
     authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to provide for the
     operation of motor busses or other similar vehicles on and
     across the said bridge, either by acquiring such motor busses or
     vehicles and itself providing for the operation and maintenance
     of the same, or by providing, by lease or other contract, for
     the operation and maintenance by others of such motor busses or
     vehicles either acquired and furnished by the said joint
     commission or otherwise.
        Section 4.  The said joint commission, in its discretion, is
     hereby further authorized and empowered to provide and equip
     said bridge and the approaches and plazas appurtenant thereto
     with such conduits, pipes, supports, or other appliances as may
     be necessary or convenient for the installation, maintenance,
     and operation of telegraph, telephone, electric light or power,
     or other public service facilities; or said joint commission is
     hereby authorized and empowered to enter into leases or other
     contracts with public service corporations, companies, firms, or
     individuals, authorized so to do, for the installation of such
     facilities and for the maintenance, operation, and use thereof.
        Section 5.  Said joint commission shall further have the
     power and authority, in connection with any or all of the
     contracts or leases hereby authorized to be made, to fix,
     collect, and receive suitable charges, rates, rentals, or tolls
     for the leasing, operation, use, or maintenance of any of the
     facilities comprehended within the provisions of this act; and
     the same shall be paid to the treasurer of the said joint
     commission, to be expended for the lawful purposes of the
     commission as it shall order and direct, so long as said joint
     commission shall continue to exist and continue in control of
     said bridge; and, upon the turning over of said bridge to the
     city of Philadelphia and the representatives of the State of New
     Jersey, as provided by the act of which this is a supplement, or
     to such other agency or agencies, body or bodies, as may be
     authorized by law, the charges, rentals, tolls, or other revenue
     or income accruing under said leases or other contracts shall be
     due and payable to the city of Philadelphia and the agency or
     body representing the State of New Jersey, proportionately, as
     provided for in said leases or other contracts for the use,
     operation, or furnishing of the facilities aforesaid.
        Section 6.  Said joint commission is also hereby further
     authorized and empowered to make and enter into leases or other
     contracts or agreements with corporations, firms, or individuals
     for the use or occupation of any of the property or properties,
     easements, or franchises, acquired by the said joint commission
     by purchase, or by the Pennsylvania commission designated in the
     act of Assembly to which this act is a supplement acquired by
     condemnation or otherwise, or for the erection or construction
     of buildings or structures and the leasing of the same or of
     space or facilities under or upon said bridge or the approaches
     or plazas appurtenant thereto,--with power and authority to
     make, fix, and collect charges and rentals for such use and
     occupation; said charges or rentals to be paid to the treasurer
     of the said joint commission, and to be expended for the lawful
     uses and purposes of the joint commission in the same manner and
     to the same extent as provided in section seven of this act.
        Section 7.  All leases, contracts, and agreements made under
     the provisions of this act shall be made for such periods and
     upon such terms and conditions as shall, in the opinion of the
     joint commission, best promote the welfare and convenience of
     the public using the bridge. All such contracts shall be
     conditioned upon the granting of all necessary consents,
     approvals, and certificates of convenience by State and
     municipal authorities in the States of Pennsylvania and New
     Jersey.
        Section 8.  The said joint commission, or its successor or
     successors in the control and custody of the said bridge, shall
     not proceed to exercise or carry out any authority or power
     herein granted or hereby given it until the State of New Jersey,
     by appropriate legislation, shall first have vested like powers
     in the said joint commission and its successor or successors in
     the control and custody of the said bridge.
        Section 9.  The said power to provide for, acquire, install,
     maintain, operate, and use the said facilities, to enter into
     leases, contracts, and agreements, and all other powers
     conferred by this act, shall remain vested in the said joint
     commission in full force and effect during the time said joint
     commission shall continue in existence and in control of the
     said bridge, and shall inure to and vest unimpaired in its
     successor or successors in whom may be vested the control and
     custody of said bridge; and upon the turning over of the said
     bridge to the city of Philadelphia and the representatives of
     the State of New Jersey, as provided for by the act to which
     this is a supplement, or to such body or bodies as may be
     authorized by law to receive the control of the same, the said
     authority and powers above enumerated shall inure to and vest in
     the said body or bodies so appointed or created to receive and
     take over the custody, maintenance, and operation of the said
     bridge and so receiving the same, or any such agency as may be
     for that purpose legally appointed or created by the body or
     bodies so receiving custody and control of the said bridge.