Route 9 bridge replacement
will have impact on traffic
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A multi-million dollar bridge-replacement project scheduled to begin in spring 2003 and be completed in fall 2004 figures to create daily traffic tie-ups for motorists traveling north and south on Route 9 and between Englishtown and Freehold Borough on Route 522 through the township.
State Department of Transportation (DOT) officials said the plan calls for the replacement of the Route 9 bridge over Route 522 (Freehold-Englishtown Road) and Conrail railroad tracks.
The need to replace the existing Route 9 bridge, which was built in 1937, is caused by conditions that do not meet current standards, DOT officials said.
The bridge is situated on a crest vertical curve, which in combination with the absence of shoulders or acceleration-deceleration lanes and substandard ramp geometrics, creates the conditions which make the $10.1 million project necessary, according to the DOT.
Efforts will be made to maintain a flow of traffic during construction, but a detour, which will be established during the design phase of the project, will be necessary, state transportation officials said.
The existing bridge is a five-span, multi-stringer structure supported on concrete piers and abutments, approximately 68 feet wide and 190 feet long. According to DOT officials, the existing bridge is structurally deficient.
The state plans to replace the existing structure with an entirely new two-span continuous steel bridge. The replacement bridge will provide for three 12-foot-wide through lanes, a 12-foot-wide deceleration lane, a 4.59-foot-wide inside shoulder, a 10-foot-wide outside shoulder and a sidewalk in the northbound direction.
In the southbound direction, the plan calls for elimination of the outside shoulder and increasing the acceleration lane to 15 feet. In addition, the ramps at the interchange will be improved.
Currently, the bridge provides northbound and southbound traffic each with two lanes without shoulders.
During construction, two lanes of mainline through traffic will be maintained, requiring the project to be done in stages.
In the initial stage, a portion of the widening, sufficient in width to carry two lanes of traffic, will be constructed outside the limits of the existing bridge.
In the second stage, two lanes of northbound and southbound traffic will be shifted to the newly constructed portion of the bridge and the remainder of the existing bridge will be removed.
In the final stage of the project, the central portion of the new bridge will be completed and opened to traffic.
State officials said it is anticipated that the reconstruction of the ramps serving Route 522 will be accomplished by closing the existing ramps, as needed, creating the need for a detour.
Bids for the project will be accepted in December. DOT officials said the project will be 100 percent federally funded.
— Dick Metzgar