Route 52 to return to off-season traffic pattern
One travel lane will be open between Ocean City and Somers Point

(Trenton) - The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) will reduce Route 52 to one travel lane in each direction for the off-season beginning Monday morning, September 13. NJDOT has provided two lanes of traffic on Route 52 over the summer season, beginning last May 14, in order to minimize impacts to shore motorists and tourists.

The Route 52 causeway replacement project, currently in the second phase of construction, provides a vital link to major Jersey Shore recreational destinations. The causeway is used by an average of 40,000 motorists daily in the busy summer season.

The $251 million second phase, or Contract B, is replacing the two remaining lift bridges at each end of the causeway with fixed-span bridges, eliminating the Somers Point Circle and improving MacArthur Boulevard in Somers Point. NJDOT also will provide a new visitor’s center, multi-use sidewalks for bicyclists and pedestrians and several fishing piers as part of the project. Approximately $70 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are supporting the project.

NJDOT planned the project in a manner that minimally impacts traffic. No detours are planned during construction. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

The initial, $145 million phase of construction, Contract A, began in October 2006 and was completed in summer 2009.

Variable message signs are notifying motorists of the summer season traffic pattern. Real time travel and construction information is available online at www.511nj.org