New Berkshire Valley Road Bridge Will Offer Drivers Expanded Space

Commuters will have a new bridge to travel over the Rockaway River on Berkshire Valley Road—but not until the fall of 2012, according to both the New Jersey and Morris County Departments of Transportation. The new bridge will be wider, accommodating two 12-foot lanes, two six-foot shoulders and a five-foot sidewalk, the state Department of Transportation said.

“The design process for the new bridge is in progress, but the project hasn’t started yet,” said Roslyn Khurdan, supervising engineer Morris County. “We are still awaiting some approvals from the state DOT on the design,” she added.

Pending those approvals, the project is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012, and should take approximately six months to complete, according to Khurdan.

Travelers may experience some traffic slowdown, but no lane closure, Khurdan said.

“We are working with the town to still have drivers use the old bridge during construction,” she said. “We will have two lanes, one in each direction, open at all times,” Khurdan added.

According to the New Jersey DOT, the bridge is a single span Acrow panel steel truss that was built in 1984. The current bridge has inadequate turning radii, substandard lane widths and is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, the DOT said.