Route 88 bridge over Point Pleasant Canal will be closed overnight this week

(Trenton) - The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) today announced that the Route 88 Bridge over the Point Pleasant Canal in Point Pleasant Borough, Ocean County will be closed to traffic for several nights this week.

Beginning Monday night, March 21, the closures will be in effect nightly from 9 p.m. to about 6 a.m. the following morning, for approximately five consecutive nights. The closures are necessary for NJDOT’s contractor, Agate Construction, to test the new mechanical system on the vertical-lift bridge. Waterway traffic will not be impeded.

NJDOT will employ variable message signs on Route 88 to alert motorists of the bridge closures and detour. The following detours will be in place during the closures:

• Route 88 eastbound motorists will take Beaver Dam Road (CR 630) to Bridge Avenue east over the Lovelandtown Bridge to Bay Avenue to Route 88 eastbound.

• Route 88 westbound motorists will take Bay Avenue to Bridge Avenue west over the Lovelandtown Bridge to Beaver Dam Road to Route 88 westbound.

The right lane on Route 88 eastbound will remain closed to traffic. All work is weather dependent.

NJDOT is repairing the mechanical and electrical systems on the Route 88 Bridge and also installing new barrier gates. This work is part of a $17.8 million contract that includes mechanical and electrical improvements to the Route 71/Main Street Bridge over Shark River that connects Belmar Borough and Avon-By-The-Sea in Monmouth County.

The work at both locations is expected to be complete in May 2011.

NJDOT provides emergency roadway information, construction schedule updates and real time traffic information and images at www.511nj.org