Newburgh Road Bridge Replacement Complete, Open to Drivers

One hundred and forty-nine days after the detour sign was put into effect, the Newburgh Road Bridge is now open to motorists. And it’s absolutely beautiful.

The project, which began on June 24 after years of engineering and development plans, is now complete, a solid two months ahead of its projected timeline of “early 2015.”

In fact, the bridge was closed for less than five months, despite the six to eight-month timetable originally given.

Workers on the project said last week they expected the bridge spanning the Musconetcong River – and connecting Washington Township to Mansfield Township, as well as Morris and Warren Counties – to open Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, weather pending.

A day of heavy rains on Monday, followed by bone-chilling temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday slowed the work slightly, but not enough to make too much of a dent.

The original bridge was built in 1908 as a two-span, steel stringer bridge and was deemed structurally deficient half a decade ago.

The new bridge spans 69 feet, six inches in length and slightly more than 50 feet wide, including a sidewalk and rails. The two lanes will take up 41 feet in width, as opposed to the old structure that was just 20 feet, causing one-way traffic to pass through.

The left turn lane for motorists heading onto Rt. 57 begins on the bridge itself, also allowing drivers their own space to turn into Walgreens.

Motorists heading from Washington Township to Mansfield were forced to drive past Newburgh Road during the detour, and turn left onto Rt. 57 at the Hackettstown line. That detour, as expected, caused major backups at the stop light on a daily basis.

But that’s all over now, and the traffic was flowing freely over the bridge Thursday afternoon, just minutes after the bridge was opened to the public.