Route 35 over Cheesequake Creek will be restored to four travel lanes for the summer
Rehabilitation work completed on southbound half
of movable bridge
(Trenton) - Route 35 will be restored to carrying two lanes in each direction on the drawbridge over Cheesequake Creek connecting Old Bridge and Sayreville in Middlesex County for the summer season.
The stage change is scheduled for Friday night, April 27, and will require overnight single-lane closures with alternating traffic patterns over the weekend to return Route 35 to maximum capacity by early Sunday morning, April 29.
NJDOT’s contractor, Agate Construction Co., has completed the rehabilitation of the southbound side of the bridge. To accommodate that work, the southbound side of the bridge has been closed since October 2011 with two-way traffic shifted onto the northbound travel lanes carrying only one travel lane in each direction on Route 35.
Reconstruction of the northbound half of the bridge will begin in fall 2012. At that time, Route 35 will again be reduced from four-lanes to two, this time shifted onto the newly rehabilitated southbound bridge.
The $25 million project is replacing the bridge decks, sidewalks, railings and median on the 70-year-old structure. The deck joints and structural steel elements will be repaired and the bridge will be repainted. The out-dated electrical/mechanical systems on the movable bascule span will also be rehabilitated and new safety barrier gates will be installed. NJDOT has designed the bridge rehabilitation to be accomplished in stages, working on one side of the bridge at a time. Removing live traffic from the side of the bridge being worked on will facilitate faster and safer rehabilitation operations.
The project is anticipated to be complete by fall 2013.
The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors. Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website real-time travel information.
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