ROBBINSVILLE: One bridge opens, another one closes

   ROBBINSVILLE — The Sharon Road bridge over the New Jersey Turnpike will remain closed for the next 18 months so it can be replaced as part of the turnpike widening project that has affected numerous bridges in the township.
   The bridge closing, originally scheduled for late last year, was delayed because too many bridges in town were being closed at the same time. The reopening last week of the Windsor Road bridge, which has been closed since Nov. 12, 2010, made it possible for contractors to move ahead with the Sharon Road bridge project.
   Until the Sharon Road bridge reopens in mid-2013, traffic will be detoured onto Gordon Road, Windsor Road, Old York Road and Route 130. Only local traffic will be allowed on Bresnahan Road and on Sharon Road adjacent to the work zone.
   The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is expanding the number of highway lanes in a 35-mile section between interchanges 6 and 9 in Middlesex, Mercer and Burlington counties to alleviate traffic congestion on the toll road. The turnpike will be 12 lanes by the time the $2.7 billion project, which began in 2009, wraps up in 2014.
   There are seven bridges in Robbinsville that span the turnpike and are affected by the widening project — bridges on Windsor Road, Sharon Road, West Manor Way, Gordon Road, Perrineville Road, Robbinsville-Allentown Road (Route 526) and Edgebrook Road. Only the Windsor Road and Edgebrook Road bridge projects have been completed at this point.
—Joanne Degnan 