rap #327 12/10/08
FREEHOLDERS TO AWARD $2.3 MILLION CONTRACT FOR CEDAR BRIDGE AVENUE & ROUTE 70 INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS
WORK SHOULD BEGIN early in 2009 on a major overhaul of the Route 70 and Cedar Bridge Avenue intersection in Brick
Township.
The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders is expected to award a $2.3 million construction contract to P & A
Construction of Colonia for the work, which will include the installation of two new jughandles.
The winning bid is $900,000 less than what the county had originally estimated.
“This project is an excellent example of the county’s ongoing commitment to improve both the flow of traffic and
the general safety of our county road network,” said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. “Not only will the
improvements make a dramatic difference to motorists traveling through Brick’s commercial center, but the final contract
has come in well under our original budget.”
The project will include a jughandle linking northbound Cedar Bridge Avenue and westbound Route 70.
“Motorists wanting to turn left onto westbound Route 70 will now use the jughandle rather than waiting for the
green turn arrow,” Vicari said.
A second jughandle will take traffic from westbound Route 70 and allow drivers to turn onto either northbound or
southbound Cedar Bridge Avenue.
A new traffic light, which will be linked to the existing signal at the intersection, will control traffic moving
from the jughandle to southbound Cedar Bridge Avenue.
Freeholder John P. Kelly, who is the liaison to the Ocean County Engineer’s Office, said drivers can expect to
spend considerably less time waiting at the intersection.
“While motorists heading in those directions will now have to travel through the intersection ramps, they will
no longer have to wait so long for the light to change green,” Kelly said. “The travel distance may be a little longer,
but the time will be less.”
Direct left turns will remain for eastbound traffic on Route 70 and southbound traffic on Cedar Bridge Avenue.
The project also includes the widening of Route 70 near the intersection.
Dedicated right-turn lanes from eastbound Route 70 onto Cedar Bridge Avenue and from Cedar Bridge Avenue onto
westbound Route 70 will also keep traffic moving, Kelly said.
A merge lane on westbound Route 70 will both ease the traffic flow and allow a right turn into the nearby Target
shopping center.
Work on the improvements is expected to begin later this year, with most of the major construction and paving to
be done in the spring.
New sidewalks will also be added to the intersection.
“When the improvements are completed, this important intersection will be safer for both motorists and pedestrians,”
Vicari said.
The project is expected to be completed by the summer.
