MIDDLETOWN — Motorists should expect detours this week as improvements are made to a railroad crossing that is part of Naval Weapons Station Earle.
Swimming River Road, at its intersection with Normandy Road, was scheduled to be closed to traffic Aug. 26-28 due to railroad repair work that is taking place at a section of Swimming River Road along the border of Tinton Falls and Colts Neck.
“We are working hard to make sure this has as little impact and effects as possible on community members,” Dennis Blazak, community plans and liaison officer for Earle, said.
The railroad tracks and Normandy Road, a restricted access highway, are both owned by the U.S. Navy and connect the Mainside Area of the naval station in Colts Neck with the Waterfront Area on Sandy Hook Bay in Middletown Township.
According to Blazak, work will include the installation of a new concrete railroad crossing by Railroad Construction Company of Patterson — the Navy’s contractor.
“Naval Weapons Station Earle planned and funded the railroad repair as part of the installation maintenance program of the base,” Blazak said. “The current rubber railroad crossing has deteriorated since it was installed in the late 1990s. The new material is expected to last longer and provide better service, both to automobiles and to the Navy trains.”
According to Blazak, detour signs will be posted for drivers coming from both the east and westbound directions and officials are working to make sure the road closure and detours don’t conflict with the closure of the West Front Street Bridge in Red Bank.
“Originally we had this work scheduled to happen a little earlier, but we are working with the county and others to make sure we have coordinated everything properly and get done as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said.
The railroad has been in operation since the naval station opened in 1943, when it provided ammunition used by U.S. forces for the D-Day invasion of Europe at Normandy Beach, hence the name of the road.