Rt. 520 Bridge Work Begins Monday Night; Expect Delays
The bridge will remain open, but traffic will be slowed down and reduced to a single lane in each direction during the 6-month long roadwork project.
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A Monmouth County roadwork project to replace the bridge decks on the twin County Route 520/Newman Springs Road bridges over the Swimming River begins Monday night, after the rush hour.
The segment is between the Garden State Parkway and Hance Avenue.
The county is warning motorists to expect delays and plan alternate routes for the next six months.
One bridge will remain open to vehicular traffic throughout the project, but traffic through the work area will be restricted to a single lane in each direction.
The speed limit will be dropped to 25 mph during the bridge project. Pedestrian access across the bridge and through the project site will not be allowed during the six-month construction time.
The existing concrete decks on both bridges will be completely removed and replaced by new concrete decks and bridge railings of the same dimensions as existing. Work will include complete replacement of the bridge approach slabs including the curb, sidewalk, and guide rail.
The roadwork is part of the an ongoing project. So far, intersections along Newman Springs Road, in the area of the bridge project, have been upgraded.
The work from Phalanx Road to Holmdel-Keyport Road in Holmdel will continue over the next few weeks and includes upgrades to crosswalks to make the intersections and traffic signal operations more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
The New Jersey American Water Company work along Swimming River Road (County Route 50) between Newman Springs Road in Middletown and County Route 537 in Tinton Falls/Colts Neck will continue, but will not require any road closures.
The Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering is overseeing the projects.
Original Story, March 12:
Drivers are being warned to expect delays through November for roadwork on the bridge over the Swimming River, between Lincroft and Red Bank/Tinton Falls.
Traffic will be reduced to one westbound and one eastbound lane in both directions, while crews under the direction of the Monmouth County Dept. of Engineering perform the work. This will be a 24-hour lane shift.
There will be no access for pedestrians to cross the bridge.
On Monday, workers in orange vests were on the scene, making measurements.
Jack
10:17 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Oh boy, I have to take this way everyday to go to work. Now I will need to find another way to get to work great. How long it been they let this sit here for about 3 year before they started to do somethings about it. And now it going to take another 3 years before they get this all done.
KS
10:17 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
It's day #1, and it's a nightmare. Can't get out of sidestreet off of 520, even to go westbound. This project impacts Brookdale & CBA students/faculty, parkway 109 drivers, employees in office buildings on Half Mile Rd and Schultz Dr, and Lincroft and Holmdel drivers going to Shrewsbury, Tinton Falls & Red Bank. Rush hour traffic on 520 is typically 20 minutes, so what's it going to be with a lane closed in each direction? 40 minutes? There are ao many unanswered questions. 1. what EXACTLY is this bridge project? 2. why will this project take 8 MONTHS? 3. why can't some / all of the work be done during the night? 4. what's the plan for handling the summer tourist traffic exiting at 109 & going eastbound on 520 to the beaches? 5. since southbound parkway drivers exiting at 109 are "blocking the box" during rush hour today, can we get ongoing police presence during rush hour to prevent gridlock? 6. is the Tpk Authority going to post signs on southbound parkway alerting drivers to back-up on 520 eastbound? 7. are the county, towship and Tpk Authority going to start coordinating traffic flow management and public communicaitons on this project? Patch, would you please do a follow-up story?
MY town
8:46 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The time of day wont make a difference on the 2 lanes being closed , the lane are going to be closed 24 hours a day.
Beach Traffic ? What beaches ? If you use the parkway to get to the beach you get off at 117 or 105 most of the time . As of right now I doubt beach traffic would be a problem since the beaches are gone.
NJarhead
11:43 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
I can probably answer one of those questions:
Work done at night is much more expensive than that done during the day. That option is seemingly used very sparingly for that reason.
Plus, despite the Brookdale traffic, this route is not going to be viewed the same as, say, a state highway or the parkway, where they will perform some/all of the work after hours.
Joe Cool
3:24 pm on Monday, April 15, 2013
If they fix roadways people complain, if they don't fix roadways people complain. If the work can't be done in 2 days people complain...it's a no win situation