Route 37 Bridge Closures Expected Through March

Improvements to both spans of the Route 37 bridge will result in multiple lane closures, mostly overnight, through March, state officials said.

The state Department of Transportation is overseeing the project to the state road, to include the bridges over the Barnegat Bay as well as portions of Pelican Island in Toms River.

Ongoing now are single and double-land closures to repair the section before the eastbound drawbridge.

The NJDOT will require daily single and double-lane closures between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the Route 37 eastbound Thomas A. Mathis bridge to repair the steel structure that supports the traffic signal located prior to the drawbridge.  A temporary traffic signal is in place while the repairs are made. This work began Feb. 16 and is anticipated to be complete the first week of March, according to the DOT.

Additionally, the westbound span will also see repairs. The right lane will be permanently closed starting Tuesday, according to the DOT, and portions of the center lane and Pelican Island sections will be included.

On Tuesday, February 21, a permanent closure of the right and periodic closures of the center lane on the Route 37 westbound Albert Tunney bridge will be required for a separate, ongoing project to repaint both Route 37 bridges as well as the Pelican Island bridge at the eastern end of the causeway. These lane closures are expected to remain in place on the westbound bridge until mid-March.

The bridge repainting is "an important element to maintaining the structural integrity of a bridge," according to the DOT, and the project will include surface preparation, painting and curing/driving of the bridge.

Bridge painting work will continue on the eastbound structure after the traffic signal repairs are complete.  That work is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2012, according to the DOT.

According to the DOT, an average of 52,000 vehicles travel this stretch of Route 37 on a daily basis in the summer months. But like last winter, the DOT is using the down time to schedule necessary repairs. Last winter, the bridges saw deck patching projects and striping complete for Memorial Day.

Route 37 normally carries three lanes of traffic in each direction over the Barnegat Bay, connecting Toms River to Seaside Heights.