Politics & Government

NJDOT: Lanes of Route 35 in Brick, Toms River Will Be Closed for Memorial Day Weekend

Construction from Curtis Point in Brick to Strickland Blvd. in Toms River will continue through June 27, state now says

Construction work will come to a halt, but all travel lanes of Route 35 on Ocean County's northern barrier island will not be open for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

The state Department of Transportation said in a statement to the press on Wednesday that it was "clarifying" a similar statement on Monday.

"As previously announced, contractors will not be allowed to work on the highway in a manner that restricts travel during the summer," the statement said. "For the holiday weekend, however, the Department will not be able to restore the normal complement of two Route 35 southbound travel lanes in part of the middle section of the project."

Specifically, according to the statement, motorists will have a just a single lane available to them instead of the normal two lanes from Curtis Point Drive in Brick to Strickland Boulevard in Toms River. 

"NJDOT makes every effort to restore all travel lanes wherever possible during holiday weekends. However, in some cases, such as this one, construction is at a point where all travel lanes cannot be restored," the statement said.

Two southbound travel lanes will be available to motorists this weekend from Strickland Boulevard to the southern project limits at Island Beach State Park, the agency said.

The full complement of travel lanes will be available during the Memorial Day weekend from 6 a.m. Friday, May 23 through noon, Tuesday, May 27, in all sections of the 12.5-mile-long project except for the southbound side of Route 35 from Curtis Point Drive to Strickland Boulevard.

"After the holiday weekend, work will continue on the highway for several weeks in most sections of the project before construction activity is restricted for the summer to provide motorists with the normal complement of travel lanes along the entire 12.5-mile project," the agency said.

On Monday, state officials announced construction would be cease and all lanes would be open by June 13. Construction is scheduled to start back up Sept. 3.

In Wednesday's statement, however, the DOT said work from Curtis Point Drive in Brick to Strickland Boulevard in Toms River will continue on the southbound side of the highway from noon Tuesday, May 27 through Thursday, June 26, leaving just one travel lane for motorists.

All lanes in that section will be restored June 27.


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