Sweetmans Lane to Reopen in Mid-February

It has been over a year since Sweetmans Lane has been closed between Kinney Road and Oakland Mills Road for the replacement of the bridge over the Manalapan Brook and the reconstruction of the Millhurst dam. The construction project is meant to bring the bridge and dam up to code.

Aiman S. El-Tohamy, of the Monmouth County Engineering Department, has said that the bridge on Sweetmans Lane will be opened on February 17, 2012.

While the Manalapan Township Web site reports that the project is estimated to be completed within one year, El-Tohamy said that that information is incorrect and that the project was listed to take 18 months.

According to the News Transcript, the project aims at broadening the roadway and repositioning it so that traffic does not disrupt the historic mill. To do so, an earthen embankment will be added to the dam, the spillway walls will be replaced with concrete ones, and a sidewalk will be added, the Transcript reported.

While the project continues for approximately two more months, please continue on your alternative route and follow the posted detour signs.