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FREEHOLDERS ANNOUNCE COUNTYWIDE ROAD AND BRIDGE UPGRADE PROJECTS
By Bill McLaughlin
Work is expected to begin this summer on a pre-fabricated span to replace the aging Vince's Bridge over the Toms River at Oak Ridge Parkway.
The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders announced last week that it will be seeking bids on the project after hearing an explanation of the undertaking from Ocean County Engineer Frank Scarantino.
The bridge handles about 8,000 cars a day and is an important link between Routes 37 and 571 and a temporary bypass bridge will allow traffic to flow during the construction period. The total estimated cost of the construction is expected to be about $3 million.
"We estimate that this entire project will take about four months," said John Kelly, the freeholder liaison to the county Engineering Department. "Normally, replacing a 100-foot span like Vince's Bridge would take up to 24 months."
A similar project replacing the Center Street bridge in Egg Harbor Township left that important artery closed for just two weeks.
In an unrelated county construction update, the freeholder board approved a long-proposed correction of the traffic pattern on Sally Ike Road in Brick.
The board approved a $483,828 contract to P&A Construction, Inc. of Colonia. Work on the project is scheduled begin in the spring and be completed before the 2008-09 school year begins.
"The majority of the road construction will be done in the spring and any detours will be scheduled for early in the summer after school has let out," Kelly said. "We don't want to interfere with cars and buses from the high school."
The junction of Lanes Mill and Sally Ike will be shaved back to a conventional Tintersection, with Lanes Mill Road being extended on a curve just east of the existing intersection.
"Motorists who navigate this intersection are going to have a much safer route of travel on these two roads," said Kelly.
Sally Ike Road has long been a rush hour bottleneck, especially when classes are in session. A left turn lane on Sally Ike will also be part of the revamped roadway.
"That's a very tough angle for drivers west bound on Lanes Mill (Road) to see the traffic coming off Sally Ike Road," said Freeholder Director Joseph Vicari, who formerly worked in the Brick school system.
"It will be replaced by a more traditional signaled intersection," he said.
In addition, the board is also seeking bids for Phase II of the Bay Avenue reconstruction project in Bay Head and Point Pleasant. This part of the project will include road rehabilitation between Bridge and Osborne avenues.
The board also approved a motion to add drainage easements along Hooper Avenue, in Toms River, for the purpose of installing a rip rap scour pad to prevent erosion.
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