Traffic to be shifted to new Causeway Bridge this weekend

Some traffic to Long Beach Island will be shifted to the newly constructed Causeway Bridge this weekend as construction progresses on the $350 million project, the state Department of Transportation announced Friday.

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Crews work to accommodate traffic
pattern changes on the bridges.

Eastbound traffic on the Route 72 Bridge was expected to be shifted to the newly constructed bridge Friday. Traffic heading westbound was planned to be reduced to one lane on the existing bridge. This work was delayed from last week due to weather and altered to permit uniform openings on the multiple contracts throughout the project.

Next week, the DOT expects to move all traffic to the new bridge with two lanes running in each direction as crews work to restore traffic patterns to their summer alignment. This shift will permit work to be done on the existing bridge, which will be closed to traffic. Upon completion of the rehabilitation work, that bridge will accommodate westbound traffic.

Summer traffic patterns are expected to be fully restored by mid-May.

Work on the $350 million Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project was started in 2013 and is expected to continue through 2020. The 3-mile-long Causeway links Stafford Township on the mainland with Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island, but is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete after 57 years in existence.

The new bridge, at 2,400 feet long with a vertical clearance of 55 feet over Manahawkin Bay, will ultimately function as the bridge for eastbound traffic when the project is finished.

The DOT plans to maintain two travel lanes in each direction during busy summer seasons, from mid-May to mid-September, throughout daytime hours and weekends, officials stated. The contractor is allowed single-lane closures overnight and during the off-season, but one lane will always be maintained in each direction.

The new bridge parallel to the existing one over Manahawkin Bay will provide another route on or off the Island in the event that one of the bridges needs to be closed. This design is consistent with Christie administration objectives to build in strength or redundancy to better withstand future storms, the DOT noted.

The existing Causeway sustained relatively minor damage during Superstorm Sandy, but future storm damage is a concern because it provides the only way for motor vehicles to get on and off Long Beach Island. 

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.