Officials Battle Downtown Bridge Rumors

It seems every day there's a new rumor about the Millburn Avenue bridge project downtown.

On Wednesday, the rumor was Essex County officials had approached township officials about closing the bridge. Mattering who you talked to, the bridge would be closed for the entire duration of the project or it would be closed for a few days.

But officials quickly dismissed the rumor on Wednesday, and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo also said there are no plans to close the bridge during a press conference on Thursday. By Wednesday afternoon Downtown Millburn sent an e-mail from President John Buchholz to merchants and others saying the rumor was false.

"At no time did the County discuss closing Millburn Avenue for any extended time, now or in the future," his email said, referencing a meeting from last week about the project with county officials and the contractor.

Buchholz said Thursday there has not been any indication the road would be closed at any time. There might be times a lane is closed for a hour or two to make way for a truck or crane, but the road is to remain open at all time, he said.

Both Buchholz and Township Committee member Daniel Baer said part of their task as liaisons on the project has been to battle the constant rumor mill. They come through e-mails and Facebook messages, but Baer said he knows rumors will happen.

"All we can do is meet (the rumors) head on," Baer said of battling the rumors. "We're going to have rumors."

Baer said he knows about the rumors when they start because people forward him the e-mails, so he tries to address them quickly. He will speak with Buchholz about sending out e-mails to all of the merchants to address them.

"When we hear about them, we try to send out a blast e-mail," Buchholz said, citing the e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon.

He also said he has told merchants to not believe everything they hear. "Unless it was said during one of our meetings with the contractor or the county, it's a rumor," he said.