State approves Dover bridge project

DOVER – The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority on Monday approved adding a $4.8 million project to its fiscal 2015 schedule to replace the structurally deficient Prospect Street Bridge.

The bridge, which runs over the NJ Transit railroad line, was closed without warning to the town on Nov. 25 by The New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit, according to Mayor James Dodd.

"Town officials are stunned by the last minute decision to close the bridge as they presented the NJDOT and NJ Transit with concerns about its structural integrity in 2010," Dodd wrote in a letter to residents posted on the town website. "After four years of dealing with the state's roadblocks, the concern is the mysteriousness with which the state has conducted itself with this important public safety issue."

Monday, DOT spokesperson Steve Schapiro said his department did not close the bridge.

"It is a county road and a county bridge, and the county closed it," he said.

Prospect Street runs from Blackwell Street in downtown Dover south to Quaker Church Road. It also serves as County Route 513, which continues south of Route 10 on Dover Chester Road.

Schapiro acknowledged some confusion existed initially among state, county and Dover officials, but that DOT is now working with local and DOT officials to get the bridge work done.

"We are partnering on the project with NJ Transit, but it is a DOT project," he said, adding DOT would control both the bidding process and construction.

Deena Leary, director of the Morris County Department of Planning and Public Works, said Prospect Street is a county road, but the bridge belongs to the state.

"(DOT and NJ Transit) were arguing a bit amongst themselves as far as who was responsible for the bridge, but no one ever argued it is not a state bridge," Leary said. "If they want to say we closed it, fine. There was a group discussion."

Dover Administrator Donald Travisano said Monday that the closing followed shortly after town officials contacted DOT in November to ask about the status of the project they were told in 2010 was fully funded, but had not received an update about since that time.

"We were assured funding was never in question, something we wonder about now," Travisano said.

Leary recalled a November meeting prior to the closure that included local, county and state officials, where all agreed that given its condition, it would be prudent to close the bridge before the winter weather created potential hazards.

"We were worried about a snow plow going over it," she said.

Travasino said that after town officials balked at a suggested time frame of three years to complete the project, DOT revised the completion estimate to "hopefully the end of 2015."

Schapiro said Monday that the current estimated completion is spring of 2016, which Leary considers a more accurate time frame. Bids for the project should go out by the end of the month, Schapiro said.

According to an NJTPA action summary, the project will extend from the intersection of Prospect and Elliot streets to the intersection of Prospect and Blackwell. The existing bridge, the authority says, is structurally deficient due to the poor condition of the substructure. The project includes replacement of the bridge, replacement of the superstructure-deck, repair to the substructure and other improvements.

The proposed new bridge would have a 14-foot-wide lane and a 6-foot-wide sidewalk in each direction. The sanitary sewer line attached to the superstructure will be removed and rerouted. The project also includes the improvement of the substandard under clearance with the rail line.

The bridge is open to pedestrians. Several short detours have been established in the area for motorists, using Randolph Avenue and Elliott Street to the west and Chestnut and Orchard streets to the east.

Aerial utilities will be temporarily relocated east during construction and located back to the east side of the proposed bridge over the sidewalk.

"While town officials are pleased the problems with the bridge will finally get the attention it needs, the utter lack of planning and pure incompetence of state-level departments with respect to this situation raises significant questions about their ability to effectively execute this project," Dodd wrote in his letter. "If the state had acted upon recommendations of the municipality in 2010, the bridge closing would not have happened until a contractor had been selected and a construction schedule put into place."

Dodd said the bridge handles thousands of vehicles and scores of pedestrians on a daily basis.

"The disruption of this vital roadway to local residents and commuters in the absence of an implemented comprehensive traffic plan, which includes signage for detours, re-timing traffic signals in the historic business district and providing notice to residents, has already unnecessarily produced gridlock conditions," Dodd wrote.

Schapiro added that emergency vehicles can still use the bridge if needed.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.