The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Despite announcements released by Bound Brook officials, a final schedule for the repair work to the Queens Bridge has not yet been determined, according to a state spokesman.
The bridge, which connects South Bound Brook and Bound Brook, is scheduled for “high priority structural repairs,” according to an announcement from Bound Brook. The announcement also said that work would begin “on or about July 17,” with a schedule of lane and bridge closures between now and October.
There’s also a highway alert sign telling drivers that the bridge will close on July 21.
But a state Department of Transportation spokesman said on July 17 that no schedule has been finalized, and that the information put out by Bound Brook was “preliminary.”
“What the town provided was a preliminary schedule, and the sign also must be based on the preliminary information,” said DOT spokesman Stephen Schapiro said in an email. “With any project, there is a great deal of preparation that is required before work may begin. As is often the case with emergent projects such as this bridge repair, it can be difficult to know when everything will be in place to allow construction to begin.”
“We are working diligently to get everything in order so work can begin and will inform the public before work begins and any lane restrictions or detours are put in place,” Schapiro said in the email.
Even though the schedule has not yet been determined, Schapiro wrote, “I can’t say whether work could start this week or not.”
According to the information put out by Bound Brook, the work will require several days of alternating traffic on the bridge, followed by an approximate two-week bridge closure.
