West Front Street Bridge to close Jan. 5; Bridge closed to all motor vehicle traffic for project duration

from Middletown Alerts:

RED BANK, NJ – On or about Monday, Jan. 5, the West Front Street Bridge (S-17), connecting Red Bank and Middletown, will close to motor vehicle traffic until May 16.

Pedestrian access across the bridge will be available throughout the closure. Bicyclists must dismount and walk their bicycle across the bridge.

“We are moving into the home stretch with the West Front Street Bridge replacement project and it is on schedule to open before Memorial Day weekend,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering. “To connect the new bridge to the Middletown and Red Bank shorelines, we must close the current bridge to vehicles and begin the last big phase of construction.”

Drivers should plan an alternate travel route until the project is completed and the new West Front Street Bridge is opened to traffic in mid-May.

Detours will be posted. Westbound traffic from West Front Street in Red Bank will be directed north on Rector Place to State Hwy 35 and across Coopers Bridge and then onto Navesink River Road to Hubbard Avenue. Eastbound traffic from West Front Street in Middletown will be directed north on Hubbard Avenue to Navesink River Road to State Hwy 35 and across Coopers Bridge to Rector Place.

“Motorists should expect travel delays in the area while this work is completed,” said Arnone.

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W. Front St. Bridge Town Hall Meeting

I attended the W. Front St. town meeting last night at Middletown's River Plaza  School.

About 30 peolpe showed up to voice their concerns over the project. Some of those to attend included  Middletown's Mayor Scharfenberger, Deputy Mayor Brightbill and Committeeman Patrick Short, with Short the only one to voice concern over the project.

Also in attendance was Republican Candidate for Freeholder John Curley, which left a few people in the room wondering why neither one of the Democratic candidates, Amy Mallet or Glenn Mason, could show up lend their support to the concerned residents.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday night in Red Bank at the Senior Citizens Center on Shrewsbury Ave @ 7:00 - 8:30 pm.

In today's APP there is a very good article written about the proceedings that describes events rather accurately and if you are interested or concerned about the project I recommend you take a look at it.  

Click here to read the APP story

The Return of the W.Front Street Bridge Project

A notice posted on the Middletown Township website has announced town meetings for residents of Middletown and Red Bank to attend and voice there concerns about the W.Front St. Bridge Replacement Project. Location, dates and times are as follows:


Middletown
Date:Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Time:7:00 pm — 8:30 pm
Place:River Plaza Elementary School
155 Hubbard Avenue
Middletown, NJ

Red Bank
Date:Thursday June 19, 2008
Time:7:00 pm — 8:30 pm
Place:Red Bank Senior Citizens Center
80 Shrewsbury Avenue
Red Bank, NJ

From what I have heard there will be two alternative plans presented to the public, neither of which are likely to be the final design. Instead, the orginal plan seems to be they way in which the engineers are planning to go, a fixed spanned curved bridge that lines up with the train tressle.

I will be on top of this story as more details of these plans become available.