New Route 206 bridge
over CSX railroad open in Montgomery

Major milestone reached in
bridge replacement and roadway realignment project

(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced that the new Route 206 Bridge over CSX railroad tracks has been opened to traffic in Montgomery Township, Somerset County.

On Monday, December 5, NJDOT’s contractor, Ritacco Construction, tied-in existing Route 206 from both sides of the new bridge with the realigned highway and shifted all motorists onto the new bridge. The old, structurally deficient bridge has been replaced with a new structure, featuring full-width shoulders and sidewalks, built on a new alignment approximately 200 feet south of the existing bridge. The new Route 206 alignment provides straighter bridge approaches to help improve motorist safety.

With the opening of the new roadway alignment, Route 206 southbound motorists will once again be able to directly access CR 601 (Trent Avenue) westbound, reopening direct access from the state highway to the local residential area located to the southwest of the bridge.

Access from Township Line Road directly onto Route 206 has been removed. Motorists now will make a left onto the old alignment of Route 206 and head south to access the new Route 206 from Pike Run Road.

The $11.2 million federally funded project is also reconfiguring the existing multi-leg intersection of Route 206 and County Route 601 to a signalized intersection and making numerous improvements to the local roadway system on either side of the bridge. New drainage systems continue to be constructed along the realigned bridge approaches as well.

Construction operations began off the highway in August 2010 and the project is expected to be completed in spring 2012.

Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website www.511nj.org for construction updates and real-time travel information.