Traffic Alert: Route 37 and Downtown Delays Expected Due to Fireworks and Tourist Traffic

With two big fireworks displays in the area of Toms River, two corridors of town are expected to have traffic delays as thousands celebrate after dusk tonight.

Fireworks along the , , draws thousands downtown as well as along Island Heights and Money Island. Water craft traffic is also expected on the river and bay itself. Fireworks will begin at 8:45 p.m. July 4 at the Bayside Avenue beach front in Beachwood, although they're visible along the river banks.

Free parking in Huddy Park and the municipal lot are likely to fill up fast. Try the parking lots farther west on Water Street. Route 166 traffic is also expected to slow, from Route 37 down into South Toms River and Beachwood.

Seaside Heights is also hosting a large scale fireworks display, expected to both clog the Mathis and Tunney bridges with traffic as onlookers arrive and then head home. The boardwalk crowds with pedestrian traffic as everyone picks a favorite spot to stand and watch the fireworks. Fireworks will be visible anywhere on the Seaside Heights boardwalk starting at 9:30 p.m. July 4. The borough also sets off fireworks every Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.

Metered parking is of course in effect throughout Seaside Heights, but a free parking lot is about four blocks from the ocean, at the base of the entrance to Seaside at Hamilton.

In Toms River, Shelter Cove is one of many popular spots to catch the fireworks from across the bay, and down the easternmost stretch of Bay Avenue is expected, as well as along Fischer Boulevard as traffic heads to catch the fireworks.

The western trip down Route 37 to the parkway entrance after Route 166 is also expected to fill with traffic this evening as tourists head home after the fireworks end.

Stay tuned for more traffic updates throughout the evening from Toms River Patch.