Bridge repairs will commence fall of 2014
City, county in talks as to where motorists will be diverted
Motorists will experience at least a two-year detour when construction on the Sunset Avenue bridge replacement project begins, but where the diversion will take place is still not finalized.
The project has been a topic of conversation between Monmouth County officials and the city for over a year. The bridge [shown above], which links Asbury Park and Wanamassa, is more narrow than the roadway that approaches it, and the supports are in poor condition, according to City Engineer Joe Cunha.
The new bridge will be a four-span bridge compared to the current five spans and remain one lane in each direction. Shoulders and sidewalks on the bridge will be widened and the new bridge will be realigned with the road. The triangular curb and between Bridge Avenue and Sunset Avenue will also be removed, Cunha said.
The county has finalized the design of the bridge and made recommendations as to where traffic will be diverted through Asbury Park while the bridge is under construction, but Cunha’s office is proposing a different detour route.
The county’s proposed detour would make Pine Street a southward one-way street from Sunset Avenue to Fourth Avenue, where traffic will be diverted right onto Wickapecko Drive to exit the city. Comstock Street will be the northward one-way route into the city from Fourth Avenue to Sunset Avenue.
Under the county’s plan, strict rules for on-street parking will be enforced. Cars will have to be parked on the west side of Pine Street and the east side of Comstock Street during peak hours.
In lieu of the county’s proposal, Cunha’s office is proposing the detour begin from Fourth Avenue where it intersects with Memorial Drive.
“[The county’s plan] will create a mess because of a high volume of traffic down one way streets that are narrow and it will disrupt parking, whereas fourth is already a main thoroughfare,” Cunha said.
Cunha received the OK from city officials at their Sept. 18 meeting to submit an application to the state Department of Transportation for funds to repave Fourth Avenue from Ridge Avenue to Bridge Avenue in preparation of the increased flow of traffic.
Construction on the bridge, which was initially moved to fall of 2013, has now moved to the fall of 2014 “if not sometime before then,” said City Engineer Joe Cunha.
The replacement cost is estimated to be $8 million, all of which will be federally funded.
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