Bloomfield Ave. Bridge Work Will Affect Traffic Flow

Bloomfield Avenue traffic patterns near the Essex County border will be affected by the replacement of a bridge over the Passaic River, the New Jersey Department of Transportation announced.

As part of the project, Route 159 will be reduced from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction, with westbound traffic crossing over the existing median and using one of the normally eastbound lanes.

Preliminary work to replace the westbound Bloomfield Avenue bridge over the Passaic River, connecting Fairfield to Montville Township, is expected to start this week, according to a department news release.

Officials expect the project to be finished in February.

The westbound Route 159 bridge is being replaced as part of $2.96 million federally-funded project that was designed in-house by department engineers, the announcement said.

The existing bridge, built in 1939, is structurally deficient and carries around 12,000 vehicles a day, according to the Department of Transportation news release.

Contractor Colonelli Brothers Inc. is scheduled to start installing signs and preliminary construction activity this week.

The state said it will use signs to notify motorists about the upcoming traffic pattern changes. The NJDOT provides real-time traffic information at www.511nj.org.