By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A detour around the Route 206 bridge that is closed to vehicles that weigh more than 20 tons will not be available starting later this month, forcing truckers to take a roughly 20-mile detour into Somerset County to enter Princeton, the town said Friday.
Starting around April 18, Mercer County will replace in Lawrence a bridge on Carter Road, a detour road for those heavy vehicles to avoid travelling on an 18th-century-bridge on Route 206 that has a weight restriction pending repairs.
As a result, they will need to take I-95 to Route 31 to Route 202 to Route 206 at the Somerville Circle, said Princeton municipal engineer Robert V. Kiser.
In theory, those trucks could get into Princeton via Harrison Street. But the left-hand turn onto Nassau Street from Harrison is “extremely difficult,” Mr. Kiser said. Other access points into town from Route 1 have weight restrictions.
Police will be monitoring the situation, Mr. Kiser said.
The state plans to fix the Route 206 bridge, which had been closed for emergency repairs in February. The bridge reopened, with a weight restriction, but the structure needs long-term improvements. According to the county, the state recommended replacing the Carter Road bridge on an accelerated basis before work on the Route 206 bridge starts.
Replacing the Carter Road bridge would take 135 days, the county has said. Deputy county administrator Aaron T. Watson wrote this week to Lawrence Mayor David Maffei in a letter saying that “Carter Road would be completely closed to all traffic on a 24/7 basis during construction.”
The state Department of Transportation did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.
