Bridges on Cozy Lake Road Nearly Complete

The bridge connecting Jefferson and West Milford on Cozy Lake Road that has been closed since Dec. 3 for repairs will reopen by Monday, Morris County Senior Engineer Brian Caruso said.

Caruso said the bridge closed earlier this month because the concrete on the arch and on the upstream side was deteriorated.

"We had to remove that [the detoriated concrete], clean the area, form it and then pour concrete," he said.

During the repairs, Cozy Lake Road has been closed between Chamberlain Road and Berkshire Valley Road.

The bridge, which Caruso said is at least 70 years old, is only getting temporary fixes. Caruso said the county currently has a consultant engineering firm that is preparing designs for a complete replacement of that bridge.

"That could be two years down the road, it might be sooner than that, but the plan is that we will be replacing it eventually," Caruso said."

Caruso said if they didn't make the temporary repairs, they would have had to reduce the width of the bridge.

The other bridge on Cozy Lake that started repairs on Nov. 27 reopend on Friday, Caruso said.

The smaller bridge, which is about 15-20 feet long, is located by the Berkshire Valley Golf Course. 

Caruso said this bridge also had concrete deteriorating on its steel beams.

"We had to tear off asphalt and replace seven beams on the deck and resurface new asphalt," he said.