By Greg Forester, The Packet Group
WEST WINDSOR — Roads associated with the Alexander Road bridge project will continue to be closed until mid-December under a two-month extension announced Monday by state Department of Transportation officials.
Work on underground gas pipes at the site that required assistance from Public Service Electric & Gas Co. are the cause of the delay, requiring two more months of construction work and road closures, according to DOT officials, who expect the project to be completed in January.
”The relocation of gas mains took longer than DOT had anticipated,” said DOT spokesperson Erin Phalon.
Requiring the closures — and causing months of traffic headaches for motorists — is the new, $12 million Alexander Road bridge, which is currently being constructed alongside the older, obsolete span that carried traffic over the Northeast Corridor tracks for nearly 67 years.
Connections to surrounding roads have resulted in closures since July 11. At that time it was predicted that the new bridge would be open and be ready to accept traffic in mid-October.
When completed, the new bridge will feature a roundabout at the intersection of Alexander Road and North Post Road.
Planners believe the roundabout will allow traffic to flow more freely, especially during peak traffic times associated with the nearby Princeton Junction train station.
The two-month extension was an unwanted but necessary delay, according to some officials, who said the project would have faced bigger problem if it was completed without addressing the gas mains.
”It’s a public safety issue,” said Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, who noted that the gas mains were undocumented, and had been installed 30 or 40 years earlier.
”It’s better to do it right, before it’s too late,” he said.
