at Main Street,
Overpass now open
at Main Street,
JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Construction is complete on the Main Street overpass above Woodbridge Center Drive.
Woodbridge Center Dr.
BY COLLEEN LUTOLF
Staff Writer
Drivers should have an easier time navigating their way through Woodbridge now that the overpass at the intersection of Main Street and Woodbridge Center Drive is open.
Construction workers were finishing up the $16 million state- and county-funded project as Woodbridge and Middlesex County officials gathered the morning of Oct. 30 on Main Street to announce the opening.
"This will improve the travel time of thousands of motorists," Middlesex County Freeholder Director David Crabiel said. The overpass will also achieve a better transit service, he added.
More than 361,517 commuters use the local roadway daily on NJ Transit’s 815 bus line alone, Crabiel said.
Motorists coming from Woodbridge Center on Woodbridge Center Drive can now make a left turn onto Mutton Hollow Road. They can then make a left at the light into Fords or they can turn right over the bridge and head downtown on Main Street.
The overpass eradicates the dangerous intersection of Main Street and Woodbridge Center Drive, Freeholder Deputy Director Stephen Dalina said.
"There were at least three fatalities over the years (at that intersection)," Dalina said.
To get to the mall from downtown Main Street, motorists can now turn right onto an access road and then onto Woodbridge Center Drive. Alternately, motorists can make a left at the light at Mutton Hollow Road and then make a left or a right onto Woodbridge Center Drive.
There are also entrances to the new Wegmans and Lowe’s sites from Main Street and Woodbridge Center Drive.
"There’s no more cross traffic now," Mayor Frank Pelzman said. "It’s just over and under. It’s really a God-send."
"I was here the other night and I had no trouble negotiating my way around," Middlesex County Clerk and former Woodbridge resident Elaine Flynn said.
Flynn, along with other county officials, Freeholders John Pulomena and H. James Polos and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, attended the opening.
The project was completed 90 days ahead of schedule, Crabiel said.
"With Wegmans and Lowe’s opening in November, this couldn’t have come at a better time," Pelzman said. "The safety issue alone is worth every single penny."
In the next 10 years, Crabiel said, Middlesex County residents can look forward to $1 billion in transportation improvements.