The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Township drivers will continue to face detours and construction sites throughout the year.
In addition to emergency work currently being done on the Delaware & Raritan Canal bridge on Amwell Road and the County Route 518 reconstruction project, a state official said bridge replacement work on Rt. 518 is slated to start later this year and road reconstruction on Route 27 is set to start this spring.
The Amwell Road bridge emergency project is moving forward, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said. The bridge, which links East Millstone with Millstone, was unexpectedly shut down on Jan. 16 after state inspectors determined that oversized trucks were further damaging the already compromised structure.
“Work is progressing on the Amwell Road Bridge,” DOT spokesman Kevin Israel said in an email. “At this time we are estimating several more weeks to complete the repair, which is weather dependent.”
The bridge is included on a list of bridges that need replacement, but that’s not on the horizon, Israel said.
“Right now there is no immediate time table for the replacment/rehabilitation,” he said in an email. “For the immediate future they are performing long-term repairs to the bridge to ensure its structural integrity and safety.”
The Somerset County Route 518 – also known as Georgetown-Franklin Road – bridge is another story, he said.
“The CR 518/Georgetown-Franklin Road Bridge needs a complete superstructure replacement,” Israel said in an email. “The project is expected to begin construction by the end of the year. This is a structurally deficient bridge. It was inspected recently and we will continue to monitor its condition.”
There is currently work on a three-quarter mile stretch of Rt. 518. That construction began in October 2014, and has already involved the full-time closure of the road.
The $4.6 million project includes road widening for storm sewers, shoulders and the realignment of a curve which involves blasting, according to Somerset County.
Through March 26, the road will be closed during weekday work hours, open during rush hours and during the night.
That work is expected to be completed in the fall.
A stretch of Route 27 extending from the township into Princeton will be resurfaced starting in the spring and expected to last through the fall, Israel said. That project’s cost is $3.1 million, he said.
