Bay Boulevard Reconstruction Contract Award Expected

A contract worth more than $2.2 million to cover the reconstruction of Bay Boulevard in Ortley Beach is expected to be awarded by the Ocean County Freeholder board to a Colonia company next week.

Bay Boulevard, which runs from the approach to the Route 37 bridge in the Ortley Beach section of Toms River to Ortley Avenue in Lavallette, had most of its southern portion destroyed in Superstorm Sandy.

In some portions, the divided, two-lane roadway that mostly runs along Barnegat Bay caved into the water, while other portions were ripped up. Since the storm struck, traffic in both directions has had to squeeze into what would usually be the northbound lane.

The repair contract is expected to be awarded to P&A Construction Inc., of Colonia, in the amount of $2,296,891 at the board's Oct. 16 meeting. The roadway will be reconstructed from its southern terminus in Ortley Beach to Princeton Avenue in Lavallette.

Most of Lavallette's portion of the roadway was undamaged.

The reconstructed roadway will remain a divided roadway with one lane running north and one lane running south with shoulders, county officials said.

Freeholder Jack Kelly, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Engineering Department, said in a statement that the reconstruction schedule of Bay Boulevard is being coordinated with the state's ongoing Route 35 reconstruction schedule.

The reconstructed roadway will tie into the state's pumpout system being installed for Route 35, so water will no longer collect on the roadway. The portion of the road that collapsed into the bay, officials said, will be armored with steel sheeting on the lagoon side of the road for protection.

Damaged areas of the roadway will have the pavement section rebuilt, and the entire road will be milled and overlayed with a new riding surface.

As part of the design process, ground penetrating radar was used to find any subsurface voids that may have been created as ocean water flowed over and under the roadway.

Construction is set to begin in late fall with an expected completion in fall 2014, officials said. Construction will shut down during the summer season.

The cost of the roadway repair will be reimbursed 90 percent by the federal government.