MEDIA CONTACT:  Julie Willmot
(609) 278-7137

TRENTON, N.J. - The Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is set to begin replacement of bridge on Cherry Valley Road in Princeton Township where the road crosses the Tributary to Beden’s Brook. This project is anticipated to take 120 days to complete.

Work will begin August 16, 2010, and the contractor will soon install signs informing drivers that Cherry Valley Road will be closed to through traffic at the bridge for the duration of the project. The detour route will take drivers around the bridge using Great Road, CR 518 and Route US 206, and can be viewed by visiting the Princeton Township website at www.princetontwp.org.

Officially known as Bridge #361.1 on Cherry Valley Road, the structure is located 1.4 miles east of the intersection of Great Road and Cherry Valley Road and approximately 1 mile west of Route 206 and Cherry Valley Road intersection.

The existing structure is 60” by 38” elliptical reinforced concrete culvert constructed in 1971. The structure is deemed “functionally obsolete” due to safety concerns at the location known as “Jefferson Curve”.

The new bridge will be an 18-foot-long and 68-foot-wide wide precast reinforced concrete, three-sided culvert that will carry two 12-foot-wide travel lanes, two 6-foot, 5-inch-wide shoulders and one 6-foot-wide sidewalk. Cherry Valley Road at the location will be realigned to provide safe passage for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

Konkus Corporation of Branchburg, NJ was successful low bidder at $926,078.60. The contract is expected to be awarded on August 12, 2010.