MANAHAWKIN – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials announced today that the center median U-turn on Cedar Bonnet Island along Route 72 has been reopened earlier than planned.
The U-turn was opened on August 2, two weeks ahead of schedule, as the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges project advances.
NJDOT’s contractor, George Harms Construction Co., completed restriping and barrier removal to reopen the left lane in each direction between the main Causeway Bridges and the West Thorofare Bridges and reopened the center median U-turn on Cedar Bonnet Island.
The U-turn near the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Environmental Trail between the main Causeway Bridges and the West Thorofare Bridges had been closed for drainage work since February.
The U-turns may be closed weekdays, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., for the next two months for the watering of new plantings along the upper perimeter of the drainage basins. The U-turns will be open on weekends and nightly.
In addition to the U-turn, the sidewalk from Stafford across the bridges to Ship Bottom will be open and accessible to pedestrians once barriers have been placed in the next week or so. Once this is completed, the temporary shuttle service that has been in place to accommodate pedestrians will be discontinued.
The remaining section of the sidewalk should be completed by the end of the summer.
Work on the $312 million Route 72/Manahawkin Bay Bridge project began in 2013 and is expected to continue through 2021. The 3-mile long causeway links Stafford on the mainland with Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island.
Visit NJDOT’s traffic information website 511nj.org for construction updates and real-time travel information.
