JERSEY CITY — The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOTannounced last week that traffic will be shifted to the newly constructed Route 1&9T southbound viaduct, and three new ramps will be opened in Jersey City. All Route 1&9T southbound motorists will be shifted to the newly constructed section of the viaduct between Tonnelle Avenue and the Charlotte Circle. The old roadway will be closed off for demolition. Three new connector ramps will also be opened, providing new traffic patterns throughout the area.
The new ramps will connect Route 139 westbound to Route 1&9T southbound, Route 1&9 southbound to Route 1&9T southbound, and Route 1&9T southbound to Route 7 and Charlotte Avenue. The new traffice patterns were expected to go into effect Saturday morning, February 19.
The $250 million federally funded project is replacing the Routes 1&9 viaduct over St. Paul’s Avenue with a new structure on a new alignment north of the present structure. The existing Route 1&9 viaduct was constructed in 1928 and is structurally unsound and obsolete.
Construction is currently focused on the new Route 1&9T northbound roadway and the new Route 1&9T northbound flyover bridge over the Tonnelle Circle.
NJDOT is building new approach roads to safely connect to Route 1&9T, Route 7, Pulaski Skyway, Route 139, Route 1&9 north of Tonnelle Circle, and local streets in Jersey City. The project will ease traffic flow and ensure safer connections to the roadways that form a vital link to this region’s transportation network. Completion is expected in spring 2013.
NJDOT will employ Variable Message Signs to inform motorists of the new traffic patterns. Visit www.511nj.org for more.