Route 7 bridge over Conrail
to be closed Saturday night in Kearny

Detour and lane shifts required for bridge replacement

(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced Route 7 will be closed in both directions Saturday night as a project to rehabilitate the Route 7 Bridge over Conrail railroad tracks begins in Kearny, Hudson County.

Beginning at 9 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday June 13, until 5 a.m. Sunday, June 14, NJDOT’s contractor Konkus Corporation, will close Route 7 and detour traffic onto the Newark-Jersey City Turnpike also known as CR508/Harrison Avenue. Access to local businesses between Schuyler Ave and Newark-Jersey City Turnpike will be maintained at all times.

The following detour will be in place for Saturday night:

Traffic from Jersey City to Kearny:

• Motorists traveling westbound from Jersey City will be directed onto CR 508/Newark-Jersey City Turnpike/Harrison Avenue to Schuyler Avenue and back onto Route 7/Belleville Turnpike.

Traffic from Kearny to Jersey City:

• Motorists traveling eastbound from Kearny to Jersey City will be directed to Schuyler Avenue to Harrison Avenue/CR 508/Newark-Jersey City Turnpike to Route 7.

Once the traffic shift is in place, at least one lane of traffic in each direction on Route 7 will be maintained during construction. The new traffic pattern will shift the southbound lane to the shoulder, while the northbound lane will shift towards the other side of the bridge. NJDOT has designed the bridge deck replacement work to be performed in stages, closing one side of the bridge for reconstruction at a time with all traffic shifted onto the other side of the bridge.

No wide loads or overweight trucks will be allowed over the Route 7 Bridge once construction begins.

The $13.7 million bridge rehabilitation project is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2017.

Portable variable message signs are being utilized to provide advance notification to the public of all traffic pattern changes associated with the work.

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 www.511nj.org for real-time travel information.