Part Of Washington Valley Road To Remain Closed Until Late 2019

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A portion of Washington Valley Road (County Route 616) will remain closed to all through traffic until late 2019, Somerset County announced.

The section of the roadway, between Chimney Rock Road and 700 feet east of Eastbrook Road, will remain closed at all times and a detour will be in effect.

A detour map can be found at bit.ly/WashValleyDetour. Access to Washington Valley Road will be only for residents, emergency services and local service vehicles such as mail, garbage and recycling; all other traffic will be detoured, the county announced Wednesday.

The construction is part of the county's efforts to reconstruct Washington Valley Road (County Route 616) due to several issues contributing to traffic accidents along the corridor and roadway condition maintenance.

"The goals of the road work are to make the road safer and more effective by improving intersections and adding shoulders to aid with accident avoidance, aid in turning movements onto side streets and driveways, and to carry storm water to a new storm sewer system," according to Somerset County.

Improvements will include reconstruction of about 1.3 miles of Washington Valley Road, drainage work, new curbing, and an expansion of the lanes to 30 feet wide or 11 feet wide each with 4-foot wide shoulders.

At the intersection of Vosseller Avenue, Washington Valley Road will be widened to 38 feet wide and a left turn lane will be added.

A new traffic signal will also be installed at the intersection of Chimney Rock Road, which will have the ability to be actuated by vehicles sitting in the turning lanes and have pedestrian crossing signals installed.

For more information on the reconstruction project click here.

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