Freeholders Unveil 2020 County Road and Bridge Projects

Published on February 27, 2020

40 Miles of County Roads and County Bridges Targeted for Upgrades

The Morris County Board of Freeholders yesterday unveiled an aggressive 2020 infrastructure action plan for the county, which includes a total of nearly 40-miles of road paving and upgrades, and 17 county bridge replacement or rehabilitation projects in more than two dozen Morris County towns.

(JPG, 863KB) Freeholder Stephen Shaw (left) meets with county engineering and project team at the ongoing Mill Road bridge replacement project in Morris Township

The freeholders, in the county's capital budget, are allocating $23 million for roads, bridges, railroads, and environmental cleanups, including 32.6 miles of resurfacing on county roads in 17 municipalities. An additional eight miles of road work is scheduled this spring and summer as leftover projects from the 2019 paving season.

Keeping our county road network in excellent shape is of great importance to county residents and businesses, and helps ensure Morris County's place as a first class, top-rated county,'' said Freeholder Director Deborah Smith.

Maintaining the high quality of our road and bridge network in Morris County is a priority issue for county government,'' said Freeholder Stephen Shaw, who is the freeholder board's liaison to county public works projects. Continually investing in county roads and bridges has made Morris County THE Infrastructure County in New Jersey.''

(JPG, 207KB) North Road paving project in 2019 in Randolph and Chester Township

County Engineer Chris Vitz and Meghan Paccione, a senior engineer for bridge projects yesterday briefed the freeholders on this year's projects.

Portions of county roads scheduled for paving are located in Chester, Chester Township, Denville, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Long Hill, Mendham, Mendham Township, Mine Hill, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Mount Arlington, Netcong, Parsippany, Randolph, Rockaway Township, and Roxbury.

In particular, three roads that have been the focus of numerous requests from motorists and officials for resurfacing will be addressed this spring and summer:

• Kinnelon Road in Kinnelon, which stretches 4.4 miles from the Boonton Township border to Route 23, is scheduled for upgrading in the summer. In addition to repaving, the borough has requested a pedestrian improvement between Fayson Lakes Road and Ricker Road.
• Hilltop Road and Bernardsville Road in Mendham Borough and Mendham Township (a continuous road that changes name at the municipal border) is set for a spring or early summer upgrade. Utility work performed in 2019 resulted in uneven pavement. Resurfacing had to wait, however, until the area disturbed by the utility company project had completely settled.
• Quaker Church Road and Randolph Avenue in Randolph are set for spring resurfacing. They were expected to be the final projects of the county's 2019 paving season but work was e delayed when the weather turned too cold to allow optimum quality paving.

  (JPG, 1MB) 2019 county road project in Hanover Township

We know that residents in those towns have asked repeatedly about bringing those roads up to the standards we expect in Morris County,'' said Freeholder Tom Mastrangelo, alternate liaison on public works projects. We want to assure you that we will resurface those roads as soon possible in 2020.''

The county work is in addition to local and state road-improvement projects.

To see the complete list of scheduled 2020 county road paving projects, visit https://transportation.morriscountynj.gov/2020-county-road-paving-projects/

The county already has begun its 2020 bridge infrastructure projects, which will include replacement or rehabilitation of 17 bridges in Butler, Denville, Dover, Jefferson, Mendham Township, Morris Township, Netcong/Stanhope, Randolph, Rockaway Township, Washington Township, and Wharton.

Ongoing projects include:

• East Blackwell Street Bridge in Dover: Work began on Jan. 27 to replace the deck on the bridge that crosses the Rockaway River. The span will be closed to motor vehicle traffic, with a 2.8-mile detour in place for up to ten months.
• Mill Road Bridge in Morris Township: Work began Feb. 10 on a six-month project to replace the heavily used span. The project requires a detour that will direct motorists to Lake Valley Road, Lake Road, and Burnham Road to Hanover Avenue.
• Waterloo Road Bridge in Netcong, Mount Olive, and Stanhope: Work started on Feb. 3 to replace the bi-county bridge, which is suffering from severe rusting of the beams and deterioration. A 5-mile detour will be in place for about nine months.
• Chestnut Terrace Bridge in Rockaway Township: The replacement project is in its final weeks. A precast structure is being installed, which could lead to its reopening in March, winter weather permitting.

Here is the full list of the county's proposed 2020 bridge projects: