As early as January, the Highlands bridge is coming down, according to the N.J. Department of Transportation (DOT).
DOT spokeswoman Erin Phallon said last week the official newspaper advertisement for bids went out Sept. 13.
“They [the DOT] will start accepting bids for the project on Nov. 1 and the contract will be awarded in late November, early December. Weather permitting, they will begin construction by the new year,” she said.
While the DOT’s plans for demolishing the 75-year-old drawbridge are a “go,” Sea Bright Borough Attorney Scott Arnette said the borough is still involved in a lawsuit challenging a ruling by state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson and has no plans of backing down.
“The appeal was filed under the New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act and all the regulations that go with it,” he said.
DEP spokesman Lee Moore said Monday that Jackson initially issued the DOT a temporary denial for the replacement of the drawbridge, but after going through supplemental information from the DOT, she reversed her decision and granted approval based on “a whole host of safety issues.”
But Arnette said safety is not the main issue.
“It really isn’t a dire issue of safety, because the bridge will be safe whether it is fixed, or if a span or a new drawbridge is put in,” said Arnette.
According to Arnette, the DOT has yet to provide the borough with the documents that contain the bridge inspection report and the conclusion that the bridge is not fixable and the cost the agency ascribes to rehabilitating it.
“We’ve been told numerous times by the DOT that we’re getting these documents, but we’re still waiting,” he said.
Stewart Lieberman, of Lieberman & Blecher, counsel for the Highlands group Citizens for Rational Coastal Development (CRCD), said the DOT also has not provided his firm with these documents yet.
Lieberman said that for a project as extensive as replacing a bridge, the DOT should have done a full-blown environmental impact study.
“They said that they were exempt from doing one, but why was it appropriate for them to be exempt? People have a right to understand what the impact will be on their environment,” he said.
Jim Parla, co-chairman of CRCD, said that when it comes to the litigation and providing the documents, the DOT is dragging its feet.
“Maybe they feel time is on their side, and it worked with the guys in Highlands – they got nervous and caved in,” he said.
According to Parla, there are three items the DOT needed from the borough of Highlands, which also sued the DEP.
“They needed the Green Acres property Highlands owns that sits right next to the bridge, which they now have, they needed borough engineer signoff, which they now have, and the need to have the borough pull out of the lawsuit against the DEP,” he said.
Parla noted that he thinks Highlands would drop out of the lawsuit by the next council meeting (Sept. 19), leaving Sea Bright as the only municipality fighting the impending construction.
“The Green Acres meeting was not something I advised them on, and from what I know, it was a 3-2 vote in favor of the diversion of the parkland. The borough agreed to swap it for another piece of property,” said transportation and environmental lawyer Janine G. Bauer.
Sea Bright and Highlands hired Bauer over six months ago to fight the replacement of the drawbridge.
She noted that obtaining the Green Acres property was an obstacle the DOT needed to clear, and the action Highlands took will go before the State House Commission, which is a body that has to decide if the property is being swapped appropriately.
Parla said the bridge project is like a large puzzle.
“There has been a push going for years to develop Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, and if you have a span bridge with a hollow core, you can run whatever services you need more easily,” he said.
The second phase of the puzzle concerns Ocean Avenue, he said.
“If you have a new bridge that is almost twice as wide, it would only be logical that you would have a wider roadway on the ocean side,” he said.
The last phase of this puzzle came about within the last month according to Parla.
“The developers in Long Branch said they have a $500 million plan to build a new pier and casino on the beachfront where Pier Village is, and a new span bridge would generate a higher volume of traffic into that area,” he said.
Building roads is an aggressive business, according to Lieberman.
“When the government wants to build a controversial project, there’s always going to be a little bit of trickery involved on their part.
“You just can’t trust what the DOT says in regard to road construction,” he said.
While the DOT says construction will start soon, Arnette said that Sea Bright is intent on its position that the borough doesn’t believe in throwing out a historical landmark.
“This span bridge is essentially an engineer’s bridge, and the DOT doesn’t seem to be concerned about the value this drawbridge has in this community,” he said.
Arnette noted that there are other claims under federal law against the DOT that Sea Bright has not yet asserted, and the borough “hasn’t ruled anything out and nothing has been taken off the table.”