Drivers who use Routes 1 and 18 in Middlesex County are familiar with shifting lanes and closed ramps. When will that new Route 18 bridge over Route 1 be done? Ask @CommutingLarry.
The traffic advisories about closed lanes for the ongoing construction of a new bridge to carry Route 18 over Route 1 in Middlesex County come in like clock work. How much longer will drivers have to endure lane loss for that project?
This succinct question came in a Tweet from a reader who used their 140 characters wisely.
@CommutingLarry would you happen to know when construction is to end near tower center/rt 1/rt18 area?
-- BlueBirdMtneer (@BlueBirdMtneer) September 15, 2015
A: You have a few more months to go, said Dan Triana, state Department of Transportation spokesman
Each week, the state Department of Transportation sends out an advisory about lanes to be closed for an ongoing $30 million project to build a new bridge to carry Route 18 over Route 1.
"Work on the project is approximately 60 percent complete and on schedule," Triana said. "The project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2016."
GOT QUESTIONS?
Ticked off about mass transit? Wondering about road construction? E-mail your questions to NJ.com's transportation expert Larry Higgs. He'll answer your questions on Tuesdays and Thursdays on NJ.com. You can also Tweet @CommutingLarry.The federally-funded project is using accelerated bridge construction techniques to minimize the affect on motorists, he said. What that means is they use prefabricated bridge decks, instead of building them on the construction site and a rapidly deployed, moveable construction barrier curb, Triana said.
Time is saved because a crew and a crane don't have to pick-up individual sections of concrete barrier and move them when construction crews are working on a different part of the project.
Those lanes changes and closed ramps we mentioned earlier will continue over the next few months, and there will be traffic pattern shifts, Triana warned. Weather could change the schedule, he said.
Commuters love to know what's going on, whether it's updating construction of a new Wittpenn bridge or what's happening with transit projects such as work on Track 5 in Newark Penn Station.
What do you want to know?
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
