Route 7 eastbound and Fish House Road traffic shift necessary for Wittpenn Bridge Project

New traffic pattern required for construction to advance

Beginning at 10:00 p.m. Friday, October 27, until 8:00 a.m. Saturday, October 28, NJDOT’s contractor, George Harms Construction Company, will be closing lanes on Route 7 eastbound in order to restripe and relocate construction barriers. When completed, two lanes of Route 7 eastbound traffic will be shifted north onto a temporary roadway near the Fish House Road interchange to allow for a new stage in construction to begin. This new traffic pattern which will be in place starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, October 28 will remain for the next several months. Traffic will use a recently closed Route 7 westbound ramp to allow for one lane of Route 7 eastbound traffic will exit onto Fish House Road southbound. Traffic for this ramp will need to exit from the right side of Route 7 eastbound at a new exit. Fish House Road northbound motorists will continue onto Route 7 westbound to the first U-Turn to access Route 7 eastbound. The following new traffic patterns will remain in place until further notice:

ROUTE 7 EASTBOUND TO FISH HOUSE ROAD SOUTHBOUND

• Route 7 eastbound traffic approaching the Hackensack River crossing can either continue on Route 7 eastbound, or follow signs for the new right side temporary exit onto Fish House Road

FISH HOUSE ROAD NORTHBOUND TO ROUTE 7 EASTBOUND DETOUR:


• Fish House Road northbound motorists will need to follow posted detours signs onto Route 7 westbound for a U-Turn onto Route 7 eastbound

In November 2011, NJDOT began construction on the first contract of the $480 million project, to completely replace the existing structurally deficient Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge over the Hackensack River with a new, wider vertical lift bridge. Construction of the new bridge is being accomplished in five separate contracts. The first two contracts that built the river piers, fender system and the east approach spans for the new vertical lift bridge have been completed. The third and fourth contracts of construction that will build the west approach spans, the Fish House Road Pump Station, advance utilities, embankment and the new vertical lift bridge span & towers are currently under construction. The new bridge is expected to be open to traffic in 2019.

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 and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NJDOT_info.