Traffic is being shifted to the north side of the easternmost thorofare bridge of the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges Project to allow for the reconstruction of the south side of the trestle bridge, according to state Department of Transportation officials. The new traffic pattern on the Hilliard’s Thorofare Bridge will remain in place until late summer. Two lanes of traffic in each direction are expected to be maintained throughout the work zone.
Schiavone Construction Co. began the traffic shift early morning, Thursday, Feb. 16, and will have it completed by the following day, Friday, Feb. 17, according to Kevin Israel, a DOT spokesman.
Work on the $350 million bridges project began in 2013 and is anticipated to continue through 2020. The 3-mile-long Causeway links Stafford Township on the mainland with Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island.
As part of the project, a new bridge, measuring 2,400 feet long with a vertical clearance of 55 feet over Manahawkin Bay, has been erected parallel to the previously existing bridge over the bay, offering the security of a supplemental route on or off the Island. The new bridge currently has two lanes of traffic in each direction while the original Causeway Bridge is being rehabilitated. The new bridge will ultimately carry eastbound traffic, and westbound traffic will be carried over the rehabilitated bridge. —K.A.E. TheSandPaper