NJDOT to reopen express lanes on Route 80 eastbound as resurfacing work shifts to local lanes
Access to local exit ramps will be maintained
throughout project area
(Trenton) – With the road resurfacing project on Route 80 eastbound in Passaic and Bergen counties progressing ahead of schedule, NJDOT officials today announced that work will shift from the express lanes to the local lanes starting this evening - Monday, October 26 2009.
The express lanes, which have been closed since October 7, 2009, will be reopened tonight, when a three-mile stretch of the Route 80 local lanes is partially closed.
Three eastbound traffic lanes will be maintained, and motorists will have access to all exit ramps in the project area via a service road or a local lane.
“These traffic-pattern shifts are enabling us to complete this project about six months sooner than anticipated,” said Transportation Commissioner Stephen Dilts. “We remain committed to helping motorists adapt to the traffic-pattern changes by coordinating with other agencies, and we’ll continue efforts to minimize impacts by providing guidance on variable message signs on the Garden State Parkway, Route 46 and Route 80.”
Work on the local lanes is expected to take about three weeks.
During this phase of the project, the Route 80 eastbound local lanes will be partially closed from the local/express divergence in Saddle Brook Township to the point where the service ramp from the Garden State Toll Plaza enters Route 80 eastbound. From that point, one local lane will remain open, providing access to exit ramps in the work zone.
Motorists traveling north on the Garden State Parkway will have access to Route 80 eastbound via this same service ramp.
Motorists who are already on Route 80 eastbound at the local/express divergence will be shifted to the express lanes. Three eastbound lanes will be maintained to a point west of Summit Avenue, where the rightmost express lane will cross over to the local lanes, providing access to exits from that point eastward.
The work is part of a $15 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded project to reconstruct more than seven miles of the heavily traveled roadway in Paterson, Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, Lodi and Hackensack.
A total of 25 bridge decks are being rehabilitated within the work area as part of the project.
ARRA is stimulating the New Jersey economy by creating or sustaining thousands of transportation-related jobs with $652 million in funding for road and bridge investments and $424 million for transit projects.
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