Route 71 pavement resurfacing and safety improvements begin in Monmouth County

Project will include temporary lane and shoulder closures

The project will improve safety and operational performance on the roadway along a two-mile stretch between Cedar Avenue in Allenhurst and Main Avenue in Asbury Park. Project improvements include the resurfacing of Route 71/Main Street, upgrading 29 intersections with ADA compliant ramps, and several pedestrian upgrades including curb and sidewalk replacement.

Additional improvements include bike lanes, 17 new traffic signals, the replacement of steel utility poles with standard wooden poles, landscape restoration, utility relocation, and improved lighting to enhance the safety of the road for the thousands of motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists using the road each day.

The project has been designed in phases with no work taking place between May 15 and September 15 during the busy summer season.

Beginning Monday, March 5 until May 15, NJDOT’s contractor, New Prince Concrete, is scheduled to temporarily close lanes and shoulders between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to do the work. After the completion of work in Loch Arbour and Allenhurst, work will stop during the summer months until September 15, 2018, resuming in Asbury Park to begin with the relocation of overhead utilities. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2020.

Motorists should expect temporary detours and lane closures, and are advised to allow additional travel time and exercise caution while driving through the project limits.

Road Diet
As part of the safety and operational improvements, a “road diet” will be implemented in Asbury Park. The new striping plan will reduce the number of travel lanes to one in each direction with a center turn-lane. Currently, Route 71/Main Street does not include dedicated left-turn lanes, which can lead to congestion, difficulty in making left turns, and a greater risk for crashes.

The presence of the new center turn-lane frees up traffic to operate more efficiently, and serves as a traffic calming measure to reduce speeds through a busy and vibrant business district with heavy pedestrian traffic. NJDOT has performed similar adjustments to a stretch of Route 45 in Woodbury and along Route 9 in Lakewood to help improve traffic flow and safety.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors. Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT's traffic information website www.511nj.org for real-time travel information and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NJDOT_info.