TRENTON -- Technically, it's called the Lower Trenton Bridge.

But to anyone with a slightest connection to New Jersey's capital or lower Bucks County, Pa. -- it's the "Trenton Makes" bridge because of the sign.

And just months before it's 100th anniversary in August, the bridge's iconic "Trenton Makes The World Takes" letters are getting a facelift, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) announced Monday.

The nearly 10-foot letters that hang on the southern side of the steel span and glow red at night are getting new, LED lights that will allow the commission to change the color for special events, causes or holidays, DRJTBC Commissioner Joe Resta said.

The commission wants the Trenton Makes bridge to join other notable bridges around the country in theme lighting.

"There could, for example, be alternating red, white and blue letter for the Fourth of July. Or green for St. Patrick's Day. Or pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month," Rests said in an announcement.

The sign's lights, last upgraded in 2005, do need work because they are unreliable, the commission says.

"We expect this technological upgrade will have an exponentially longer service life while being more reliable in all of kinds of weather conditions and reducing energy consumption costs in the process," Resta said.

The work is scheduled to start in mid July and finish in the fall, and the letters will be dark during the project.

The letters themselves will stay, but their current neon tubes will be removed and the housings cleaned and repainted. Each of the 25 letters is 9 feet 6 inches high.

Carr & Duff, Inc. of Huntingdon Valley, Pa. won the contract, not to exceed $647,000, to do the work. The commission approved it Monday at its monthly meeting in New Hope, Pa.

Signage on the bridge and its predecessors - which connects Trenton to Morrisville, Pa. - date to 1911.

The DRJTBC says it was originated by the Trenton Chamber of Commerce, who held a contest to coin a slogan for Trenton. S. Roy Heath, a local lumberyard owner who went on to become a state senator, penned the phrase.

It was originally, "The World Takes, Trenton Makes," the commission says. The first sign was was hung in 1911 by R.C. Maxwell Sign Co. The letters were wood and adorned with sequins.

In 1917, a mayoral committee raised money for the Maxwell company to replace the letters with lighted ones, and change it to "Trenton Makes The World Takes," with an arrow pointing to Trenton.

The previous, iron bridge was replaced by the current steel truss bridge in 1928 and the sign was absent until 1935. In 1994, the chamber of commerce transferred ownership of the sign to the DRJTBC.

The commission says they believe the planned upgrade will be the sixth significant replacement or change to the sign.

In 2004, while planning last upgrade, the DRJTBC floated the idea of a corporate sponsor picking up the upgrade costs and getting recognition for it on the bridge.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.