By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
While the Amwell Road Bridge is closed, the detours themselves may be emptier than originally expected, because, for several residents, the real traffic can be found where drivers are trying to navigate the back roads instead.
For Enoch Wisner, of Blackpoint Road, who spoke out during the Jan. 13 Township Committee meeting, the detours created while sections of Amwell Road are closed for six months have proven to be a safety hazard for those not familiar with the area.
”It gets very crowded on Blackpoint Road,” he said. “People are traveling by the dozens and cannot navigate around.”
Although the detours themselves do not lead out to Blackpoint Road, Mr. Wisner said the area has become a thoroughfare as drivers try to avoid more crowded roads.
The pieces of the road will be closed from Jan. 6 through June 19 while work is done on the Amwell Road Bridge over the Neshanic River; the bridge east of Longhill and Wertsville roads; and another bridge west of the intersection of Zion and Amwell roads.
Reconstruction will also be done on a portion of the roadway from the Neshanic River to Longhill Road.
Only the Amwell Road Bridge will be closed for the entire six-month period. The bridge at Longhill Road will be closed for about two months, then the bridge at Zion Road will be closed for a subsequent three months.
During this time, a detour has been set for non-local through traffic to take vehicles out to Route 202 instead of Amwell Road, with cars being detoured from Amwell Road to Route 202 to Pleasant Run Road (CR 629) to River Road, and back to Amwell Road.
Local traffic is being maintained and detoured along Wertsville, Zion and Longhill roads for those living between the Neshanic River and Zion Road.
Still, Mr. Wisner said he is concerned that so many drivers are abandoning the set detour to travel on his street and other local roads.
”It’s a very narrow road, and the telephone pole is 2 feet from the margin of the blacktop,” he said. “The road cannot take that kind of traffic. And it’s dangerous for people who don’t know the area.”
Hillsborough resident Neil Oldfield expressed a similar concern about unfamiliar drivers on Wertsville Road, particularly in the evenings. He said the road has many curves and is narrow, so it can be difficult to see what might be coming.
”What people who are not familiar with the road may not be aware of is how many deer cross, particularly at night,” he said. “There is not a lot of maneuvering room in that area if something pops out in front of you with no warning.”
Mr. Oldfield said, with additional traffic, it can also be more difficult driving across the one-lane bridge on Wertsville Road. Regular commuters in that area, he said, know to allow for an alternate feed on the bridge to keep things flowing among those coming from both sides of the bridge.
”Now people are more concerned with getting to the bridge first, and sometimes you have to wait longer for a break,” he said.
Fortunately for some residents, the detours have not proven to carry as much traffic on the more traveled roads.
For the Rev. John Cherry – whose church, Clover Hill Reformed Church, is situated on Amwell Road near the turn into Flemington – he has not seen a significant increase in traffic since the bridge was first closed.
”It strikes me that there is less traffic in front of the church because people go straight up Route 202,” he said. “Typically, there are a lot of Pennsylvania license plates, but I haven’t seen as many lately.”
Although the Rev. Cherry said he has heard some concerns about the side roads, he has not heard any complaints from those driving on the main roads.
”I have heard off on detour roads there are people who are not familiar with them,” he said.
For now, though, the Rev. Cherry said, his congregants have only reported having to add an additional five or 10 minutes to their trip to the church every Sunday.
”I haven’t heard any complaints,” he said. “Although that may change if there is a big snowstorm or something.”

