Politics & Government

Route 35 Construction Will Hamper Traffic This Summer, Brick Mayor Says

by Patricia A. Miller

With memories of a traffic-choked Route 35 during the recent Polar Plunge still fresh, many are worried about what the state highway will look like this summer.
 
"I've getting a lot of questions in regard to the road question," said Mark Halloran, president of the Federation of Brick Beaches said at the March 18 Township Council meeting.

"The traffic and difficulty of getting anywhere has been unbearable... everyone is wondering what's going to happen in the summer," Halloran said.

Halloran said little information is forthcoming from the state Department of Transportation's outreach center.

"We can't get any answers," he said.

Mayor John Ducey said the completion date for the massive project is June 15, 2015.

Contractors will work through the summer and into the winter if the weather cooperates, the mayor said.

"There is going to be enough room to walk and bike," he said. "Township crossing guards will staff all six intersections."

Construction on the Route 35 project will be halted on holiday weekends.

"On Memorial Day weekend, they will stop work on Thursday and pick up again on Tuesday," Ducey said. "There will be one lane of traffic, with no physical work going on. It's going to be difficult."

Ducey said he and several council members met with DOT representatives on Friday and asked that the state do a presentation on the Route 35 project for the Federation.

"They agreed to do it," he said.

The $260 million project involves the reconstruction of a 12 mile-long Sandy-damaged stretch from Bay Head to the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township.

The new highway will be 24 inches thick, including asphalt pavement and the stabilizing sub-base materials. That represents an improvement over the current highway, the northern portion of which mainly consists of concrete slabs laid directly over sand.

The highway will also include significant drainage improvements. The road will be contoured so water will drain into inlets on either side. An electrical pumping system will then collect the rainwater, purify it by removing suspended solids, then pump it into Barnegat Bay.




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