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EAST WINDSOR: Traffic fully flowing through Interchange 8 toll plaza of New Jersey Turnpike

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   EAST WINDSOR —On Monday, Mayor Janice Mironov said that traffic entering the New Jersey Turnpike was using the new lanes of Interchange 8.
   However, Mayor Mironov noted the southbound exits were not yet finished, due to weather conditions. She added that the southbound exits of the Interchange 8 toll plaza were expected to fully open within the next couple of days.
   ”The schedule for opening the ramp from the southbound Turnpike to the new toll plaza is entirely dependent on the weather,” said Tom Feeney, media coordinator for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, on Monday night. “Our contractor can’t do the necessary striping if the road is wet.”
   Yet just past 1 a.m. Wednesday — all of the new lanes finally opened for Interchange 8.
   ”The new interchange has been fully open since 1:15 a.m. yesterday,” Mr. Feeney said Thursday. “It opened in three phases.”
   It opened to northbound Turnpike traffic exiting at Interchange 8 last Wednesday morning, Jan. 23, he said. It opened to all traffic entering the Turnpike at Interchange 8 last Thursday morning, Jan. 24.
   On Jan. 30, it opened to southbound Turnpike traffic exiting at Interchange 8, Mr. Feeney stated.
   The expansion is part of a $2.5 billion widening project, which began in 2009 involving exits 6 through 9, as previously reported. The state route begins just shy of the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the south and continues north, connecting tourism hubs such as Princeton with New York City.
   The widening project is scheduled to be completed next year, Mr. Feeney said last week.
   Additionally, a Route 133 bridge still is under construction to support a grade-separated, direct connection from Route 33 to the new Interchange 8 toll plaza as announced by the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 2011. Construction of the bridge began that June.
   ”The bridge that is being built over (Route) 33 to connect Interchange 8 to the bypass will be finished this spring,” Mr. Feeney said.
   The project will reconstruct local roads along the northbound side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Drainage improvements, utility relocations, new lighting and traffic signal modifications also are included, the DOT previously announced.