Route 71 bridge over Shark River to be closed
a few nights this week

(Trenton) - The Route 71/Main Street Bridge over Shark River that links Belmar and Avon-By-The-Sea in Monmouth County will be closed to vehicular traffic for two or possibly three nights this week, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced today.

NJDOT is scheduled to pin the bridge in the open position 9 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 until 6 a.m. Wednesday, July 20 and again during those same hours Wednesday night into Thursday morning. If additional testing is required, the closure will be extended from Thursday night to Friday morning.

The closures are needed for safety testing of newly installed bridge operating equipment.

During the overnight closures, motorists and pedestrians will be redirected to the Route 35 bridge, which is just one block west of the Route 71/Mains Street bridge. The Ocean Avenue bridge, six blocks to the east of Route 71/Main Street bridge, offers motorists and pedestrians another alternative to cross the Shark River.

NJDOT completed the majority of construction activities on the movable bridge in late May. The bridge has been operating on its normal 30-minute raise/lower schedule since that time. Over the winter NJDOT completely rehabilitated the mechanical and electrical systems on the bridge and installed new safety barrier gates.

The Shark River channel is one of the busiest commercial boating channels in the state and the bridge is required to open for marine traffic on-demand, per U.S. Coast Guard requirements.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors. NJDOT provides emergency roadway information, construction schedule updates and real time traffic information and images at www.511nj.org