The new Ridge Road Bridge over Rt. 3 in Lyndhurst & Rutherford will open to traffic on Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, as the safety and congestion relief project advances, the NJDOT says, though a specific time was not immediately known.
The new bridge is wider than the original bridge and includes the addition of a dedicated northbound left turn lane, as well as the addition of a northbound lane at the Rutherford Avenue intersection. In order to add the new lane at the Rutherford Avenue intersection, a part of the existing concrete island was removed and reconstructed.
Other improvements included upgraded traffic signals on both ends of the Bridge at the Rutherford Avenue intersection on the south side of the bridge and the Marginal Road/Barrows Avenue intersection on the north side of the bridge. There also are new sidewalks on both sides of the bridge with improved ADA-compliant curb ramps.
The sidewalk on the east side of the bridge will be open for pedestrian use when the bridge opens. The sidewalk on the west side of the bridge will remain closed for the completion of work on the curbs and ramps on the northwest and southwest corners.
The sidewalk is expected to open by the end of the month.
But don’t get too excited — the opening signals the start of another project that will lead to more traffic headaches, because the next portion of the project — the reconstruction of the Orient Way Bridge — is expected to be closed by the end of February to begin demolition and reconstruction.
Construction of the Orient Way Bridge is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The federally funded $26.7 million project will have replaced both the Ridge Road and Orient Way bridges over Rt. 3, provide a continuous full-width right shoulder on Rt. 3 in both directions to help ease congestion and make improvements to the Polito Avenue and Rutherford Avenue intersection, including traffic signal improvements and ADA compliant sidewalk ramps.
The Ridge Road span was originally slated to open Jan. 31.
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