Project, seen as key to development, expected to be completed by 2015
By: Eileen Oldfield – Staff Writer
It took 30 years to begin, but township and state officials broke the ground for a middle section of the Route 206 Bypass Wednesday, setting any doubts that the project would occur to rest.
"It’s been a long time coming, but we are thrilled that we are at this point," Mayor Frank DelCore said. "I think there was some doubt that we really would get to this point."
"Once we get this road up and running and traveled, it will have a huge benefit (for) Hillsborough," he added.
The 3.6-mile bypass which may ultimately reshape Hillsborough is expected to shift traffic from the existing road onto the new road, thus reducing traffic in the center of town. The new road will run from Old Somerville Road to Mountain View Road, and will be built in three sections.
The groundbreaking ceremony occurred for the 1.5-mile middle section of the intended bypass, which is situated between Hillsborough Road and Amwell Road. Carbro Construction Corporation, of Hillsborough, will be building the $43 million section of road, which will have one travel lane in each direction. The project is expected to be completed in 2012, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
All traffic lanes on Route 206 will remain open during the construction, and residents will still have access to their properties, and access to businesses in the area will be available during normal business hours.
The project will also replace the existing bridges over the CSX railroad tracks on Hillsborough Road and Homestead Road, the NJDOT said. The bridge repair work will require closing both Hillsborough Road and Homestead Road for a period of about six months, though the NJDOT said the road closures would not occur simultaneously. Detours for both roads will be along the existing Route 206, Amwell Road and Willow Road, and advance notification will occur before each closure.
Local officials have anxiously awaited the bypass project for many years. With traffic passing through Hillsborough removed from the existing Route 206 between Old Somerville and Mountain View roads, the area will become a downtown focal point for the township. The area has been rezoned to encourage development of multi-storied mixed-use buildings, with retail space on ground floors, and offices and apartments above.
On Aug. 10, the Township Committee approved rezoning land at the corner of Amwell Road and Route 206, where Hillsborough Elementary School is located, in hopes of drawing additional development if the school board were to sell the land.
The project bid called for 378,624 pounds of steel, 602,442 pounds of epoxy-coated steel, 1,575 cubic yards of concrete bridge deck and 2,626,205 pounds of structural steel, as well as the construction of a 48,869 square foot retaining wall to build the bypass. These materials will all be used for bridgework in the project. As for roadway materials, the project will require 2.6 million pounds of structural steel, 247,346 cubic yards of excavation, 42,198 tons of hot mix asphalt, 185,116 cubic yards of soil aggregate, 21,535 linear feet of reinforced concrete pipe and 24,838 linear feet of material for a chain-link fence.
The second contract is currently being designed, and the NJDOT expects to begin construction on that project in 2012, according to the organization.
The entire $140 million bypass is expected to open in 2015.

