The expected 90-day closure of the Alexander Road Bridge will begin not this Friday, June 27, but Friday, July 11, due to a last minute schedule change. The two-week delay is not expected to delay the overall project, including the new bridge, sidewalks, retaining walls, and roundabout.##M:[more]##
The bridge is still scheduled to be closed until September 25, and the entire project is expected to be completed by November 27.
A permanent detour around the Alexander Road bridge will close Alexander and North Post roads in the area of the bridge. People who are traveling on Route 1 heading north will continue past the Alexander Road interchange and, instead, exit on Washington Road. From there, commuters will be able to head to Wallace Road or Clarksville Road. Commuters heading north on Route 1 will still be able to exit onto Alexander Road if their destination is Bear Brook Road, Old Bear Brook Road, Vaughn Drive, or any residence or business located prior to the bridge, according to a letter from the state Department of Transportation that was sent to business owners in the area.
Commuters traveling on Route 1 south will simply exit onto Washington Road, and those traveling on Clarksville or Alexander roads will intersect with Washington Road to head toward Route 1. Those who are headed to Bear Brook Road, Old Bear Brook Road, Vaughn Drive, or any residence or business located on Alexander Road prior to the bridge approach, would turn left onto Route 1 south from Route 571 and continue to the Alexander Road interchange to head east.
Only local traffic will be permitted on the section of Alexander Road between the Wallace Road intersection and Route 571, and on North Post Road between the bridge and Clarksville Road.
Currently, the $12 million bridge project is about 60 percent complete. The bridge will be replaced with a single-span steel superstructure bridge, and will carry two 12-foot lanes, two 4-foot shoulders, and 6-foot sidewalks on both sides. The existing “T” intersection at North Post and Alexander roads will be replaced with a modern roundabout, and new curbs, sidewalks, bicycle-compatible lanes, and landscaping treatments will also be provided. The work is being done by the state’s contractor, IEW.
According to the NJDOT letter, as of May 27, bridge abutments have been completed, and the structural steel and deck plans have been erected. The deck pour was scheduled for earlier this month. Three retaining walls are partially complete, but completion will occur during the second phase, when the road is closed. That second stage consists of the construction of sidewalks and parapets, asphalt paving, new roadway tie-ins with existing Alexander and North Post roads, existing bridge demolition, completion of the two walls that cross Alexander Road, the tie-in of new drainage facilities, and utility relocations. Drainage, gas main, embankment, and all road work is also expected to take place during this time.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said the bridge closure was scheduled to try to avoid the school year, which ended on June 20, “but unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid it 100 percent,” he said. “There will still be a couple of weeks during the beginning of the year” in September that will be affected, he said. “The contractor will do as much as it can so it can hopefully open sooner rather than later.”
Because of federal regulations, work on the bridge can only be done between 12 and 5 a.m., Hsueh points out. Hsueh also said that township officials have had extensive dialogue with emergency services officials to prepare for the closure.
Township officials have said that the work on the Alexander Road bridge will not coincide with the Meadow Road project — which entails realigning the 90-degree curve so that Meadow Road from Bear Brook will go directly to the bridge and to Route 1 and Carnegie Center in a straight line. Hsueh said township officials still have not selected a contractor for that project, which was originally scheduled to begin this summer.
At the same time, road construction also began June 26 in West Windsor on parts of Route 1. The state Department of Transportation is removing and replacing traffic striping, pavement markings, and pavement reflectors along the highway.
Commuters can expect single lane closures, slow moving traffic, or alternating traffic patterns between certain times of the day: Monday through Thursday, between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and on Friday between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and from 8 p.m. on Friday night to 8 a.m. on Monday morning. There will be multiple lane closures from Monday through Sunday between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Traffic Lines Inc. is doing the work.
