Bridge Closure Turns Into Traffic Chaos on Rt. 46

The first day of 10 with a bridge closure on Rt. 46 connecting Washington Township and Hackettstown was not a good one for motorists, as traffic on East Avenue caused 15-minute backups Sunday.

Hackettstown Police sent out a Nixle alert at 12:25 p.m. warning motorists that delays on East Avenue westbound – where motorists using Rt. 46 were forced to detour around the bridge closure – had escalated to 15 minutes, and drivers should be taking alternate routes if possible. Residents in the apartment and town house complex of Peachtree Village told Patch the main road there, Tara Drive, was being used as a thoroughfare by drivers looking to escape the detour.

The bridge and roadway were officially closed at 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, and expected to remain shut until Aug. 26. Crews are expected to work around the clock during the 10-day closure.

The traffic is compounded by the closure of Newburgh Road in Washington Township and the bridge there that joins the town with Mansfield Township. Motorists heading north on Schooley’s Mountain are detoured to Rt. 182 in Hackettstown, just a mile from the East Avenue outlet for the Rt. 46 detour.

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