NJDOT to replace Essex Street Bridge
over Route 17 in Bergen County
$67 million project to reconstruct the state highway
through the area as well
(Trenton)--Commissioner Kris Kolluri today announced that the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) starting the week of August 1 will replace the Essex Street Bridge over Route 17 and reconstruct the Route 17/Essex Street intersection in Lodi, Maywood and Rochelle Park, Bergen County.
“NJDOT’s Route 17 Essex Street project will ease traffic congestion, facilitate economic development and improve safety in Bergen County,” said Commissioner Kolluri. “The replacement of a decayed bridge and realignment of an accident-plagued intersection reflects NJDOT’s commitment to motorist safety and the maintenance of New Jersey’s aging roadway network.”
The $67 million project will replace the structurally obsolete Essex Street Bridge and widen Route 17 and Essex Street at the intersection, which currently has one of the highest accident rates in Bergen County.
The new Essex Street Bridge will consist of six 12-foot lanes, two eight-foot shoulders and two four-foot sidewalks. New signals will be installed at the ramps to allow motorists to turn onto Route 17 from Essex Street. The Essex Street approaches to the bridge will consist of five 12-foot lanes, including two lanes in each direction and a dedicated center lane for turning vehicles.
The reconstructed Route 17 will include three 12-foot lanes with 12-foot shoulders, as the section of Route 17 directly south of the intersection currently does. In order to conform to the widened roadways NJDOT will realign the entrance and exit ramps to Route 17 northbound and southbound. In addition, NJDOT will build exclusive left-turn lanes on Essex Street and install traffic signals to improve safety on Essex Street at Maywood Avenue, Riverview Avenue and west of Route 17. The existing drainage system also will be improved to mitigate flooding.
NJDOT will maintain all lanes of traffic on Route 17 from 6 a.m. through 10 p.m. and will announce single travel lane closures from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in advance of implementation.
NJDOT will close the Essex Street Bridge from early January 2009 to mid-December 2009 in order to replace it. Detours using local streets and Route 80 will be announced in advance. Construction is scheduled for completion in spring 2010.
Motorists are encouraged to drive carefully to protect themselves and workers in the construction zone. Variable message signs will be placed on Route 17, Route 80, Route 4 and Route 208 to advise motorists of construction on Route 17 and Essex Street. Real time travel and construction information is available online at www.njcommuter.com.
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