Route 21 northbound (McCarter Highway)
overnight closures to begin this week in Newark

Detour in place as work to rehabilitate bridge advances

(Trenton) – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced Route 21 northbound will be closed overnight during the week between approximately 3rd Avenue and Chester Avenue in Newark, Essex County as the Route 21 southbound viaduct rehabilitation advances.

Beginning at 10 p.m. Friday, September 12 until 10 a.m. Saturday, September 13, NJDOT’s contractor, De Foe Corporation, is scheduled to close the northbound lanes as work begins to install new girders and replace the bearings. The work will take place overnight Mondays through Thursdays from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next morning and Friday nights from 10 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next morning.

These overnight closures are expected to continue through the end of the year. Once this phase of the project is complete, work will shift to repairing the concrete bridge deck on Route 21 southbound.

The following detour will be in place:

Motorists will be directed onto 3rd Avenue to Broadway, which becomes Washington Avenue in Belleville, to Joralemon Street to Main Street to Little Street to the on ramp to Route 21 northbound.

The $30.7 million project consists of replacing the deck, installing new parapets, and repairing the superstructure and substructure on the viaduct. In addition, the Route 21 bridge over Chester Avenue also will be replaced as part of this project. Route 21 consists of three lanes in each direction with the southbound viaduct directly over the northbound lanes. The viaduct, which is slightly more than a half-mile, was constructed in the early 1950s and consists of 38 spans. As the project advances, NJDOT will provide updates. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2016.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors.  Motorists are encouraged to check www.511nj.org for real-time travel information.