By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The new bridge that will one day carry Alexander Road and thousands of cars over the Northeast Corridor rail line is beginning to take shape on both sides of the tracks, adjacent to the older and more rickety bridge it will one day replace.
The construction project has been moving along smoothly with little or no unforeseen delays, according to officials from both West Windsor Township and the New Jersey Department of Transportation, with both groups expecting an on-time completion date sometime at the end of 2008.
”Everything is on schedule,” said Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.
Significant accomplishments in the $10.5 million drive to provide the region with a newer and safer bridge than the current 83-year-old span include the completion of abutments on both sides of the tracks.
Also slated for completion are retaining walls throughout the project site, according to DOT spokeswoman Frances Daly-McRory.
The next major step — expected by DOT officials to be completed in the coming weeks — will be the laying of the all-important structural steel spanning one abutment to the other.
That steel will provide the supporting skeleton for the later addition of the bridge deck itself, which will physically carry motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians over the tracks.
At the end of the summer motorists will likely see a 90-day period of significant road delays, as workers begin to connect the existing Alexander Road and North Post Road to the new bridge, Ms. Daly-McRory said.
Detours will take motorists between the east and west sides of the rail lines over the crossing that carries Washington Road over the Northeast Corridor.
DOT officials said they plan on providing advanced notice and information to the public to help motorists and others deal with the detours and the delays they will likely generate on the township’s already crowded roadways.
”Efforts are being made to reduce impacts to motorists during the detour,” Ms. Daly-McRory said.
Following the completion of the bridge, traffic backups at Alexander Road should subside.
The stop sign at the intersection of Alexander Road and North Post Road will no longer exist, with that intersection being replaced by a “roundabout” that should both reduce delays and have a calming effect on traffic, according to township plans.
But the traffic improvements may not have their desired effect for more than 10 years or so, at least according to some in the community.
Recent redevelopment meetings held by developer Steve Goldin predicted that significant development in the area could result in a decline in traffic circulation at many of the township’s intersections by 2021, including the new Alexander Road and North Post intersection.
”Just based upon my knowledge and judgments, I have to say I agree,” said Mayor Hsueh. “That’s why it is important to have the county and state work together to see what traffic circulation solutions we can do.”
Redevelopment of the train station area will be key to improving traffic in the area, Mayor Hsueh said.
