Christie Administration advances Route 206
widening project in Byram
New signage to help motorists and business patrons
navigate work zones
(Trenton) - A project to improve safety and relieve congestion along a 1.2-mile segment of Route 206 in the Byram (Sussex County) business district is advancing toward completion, with active construction zones prompting the New Jersey Department of Transportation to bolster signage to help guide motorists through or around the work zones.
After meeting with local officials last week, the Department has agreed to display messages on Dynamic Message Signs to alert motorists who would normally take Route 206 through Byram to points north to consider Route 15 or other alternate routes. The messages will be displayed on signs located along Interstate 80 westbound, east of Route 15 and on Route 206 northbound, south of I-80.
Construction activity will require the temporary closure of the main entrance to Byram Plaza from Route 206 on or about June 21. Route 206 southbound motorists will have access to the plaza via Lackawanna Drive. Construction crews will build a temporary left-turn slot at the intersection for those motorists and have it ready for use prior to closing the main entrance to the plaza.
Construction activity at the northerly plaza entrance from Route 206 also will start on or about June 21, but will be confined to night hours to maintain the current traffic movements there. That entrance provides Route 206 northbound motorists with a right turn into the plaza, and provides motorists leaving the plaza with a right turn onto Route 206 northbound.
Once work is completed on the Route 206 entrances to the plaza, and the left-turn movement from Route 206 southbound into the plaza is restored at the main entrance, the temporary left-turn slot for Route 206 southbound motorists at Lackawanna Drive will be temporarily closed for about two weeks. During that time, all Route 206 traffic at the intersection will be shifted to the northbound side of the highway, providing motorists with just one lane in each direction.
Farther south in the project area, the Department will be switching all Route 206 traffic to the northbound side of the highway between Acorn Street and Lackawanna Drive on or about June 21, allowing crews to work on the southbound side of the highway.
The $18.5 million project, which includes repaving of the roadway, is expected to reach substantial completion in September.
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