Route 206 Bridge Rehab Project In Princeton Resumes

PRINCETON, NJ — Route 206 is now closed as the $7.4 million state-funded project to rehabilitate the Route 206 Bridges over Stony Brook continues, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced on Thursday.

NJDOT’s contractor South State, Inc., has closed Route 206 in both directions near the Stony Brook Bridges between Lovers Lane and Carter Road in Princeton as of about 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, July 6. The closure allows for the reconstruction of the Stone Arch Bridge and the adjacent Flood Channel Bridge.

There will be two detours in place during construction—one for cars and another for trucks. Local access will be maintained for residents and businesses on Route 206, including the Hun School. Detours are listed below:

Car Detour

Northbound: From Route 206 north, traffic will be directed to take a left on Carter Road, right on Rosedale Road, and then a right on Elm Road back to Route 206

Southbound: From Route 206 south, traffic will be directed to take a left on Lovers Lane, right on Mercer Road, and a right on Hutchinson Drive back to Route 206.

Truck detour

Northbound: From Route 206 north take I-95 south to Route 31 north to Route 202 north back to Route 206 at the Somerville Circle.

Southbound: From Route 206 south take Route 202 south at the Somerville Circle to Route 31 south to I-95 north back to Route 206.

The project consists of rehabilitating the historic Stone Arch Bridge over Stony Brook and replacing the adjacent Flood Channel Bridge, both of which are located between Quaker Road near the Hun School and the Jasna Polana Country Club.

The Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1792 and widened in 1916, was closed in February 2016 for emergency repairs following a partial parapet collapse. At that time, a weight limit of 20 tons was put into place with a truck detour, which will remain throughout construction.

The adjacent Flood Channel Bridge is in poor condition and will be replaced with a single-span bridge. It is being done at the same time as the Stone Arch Bridge rehabilitation to minimize the impact to traffic.

The project also includes minor reprofiling of the roadway, drainage improvements, replacement of existing guide rail, slope stabilization, and replacement/relocation of existing utilities.

Variable Message Signs will be used to provide advance notification to drivers of traffic pattern changes associated with the work.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors. Drivers are encouraged to check NJDOT's traffic information website www.511nj.org for real-time travel information and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NJDOT_info.

Patch file photo