Route 72 lane shifts required as the roadway improvement project in Stafford advances

Four lane shifts necessary for culvert construction

(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced that there will be four lane shifts required over the next three weeks on Route 72 as the culvert replacement and roadway improvement project between the Garden State Parkway and the Stafford Square Shopping Center in Stafford, Ocean County advances.

Beginning at 9 p.m., tonight, Monday, March 4, until 6 a.m. the next day, NJDOT’s contractor Earle Asphalt Co., will close one lane of Route 72, both eastbound and westbound, to implement a traffic shift. Route 72 westbound traffic will be shifted to the left, onto a temporary lane, between the Garden State Parkway and Martin Truex Jr. Boulevard. The shift will create a construction zone on the right side of the road to continue culvert replacement work. Two westbound lanes of traffic will be maintained during this stage.

This configuration will be in place for approximately one week. As work progresses, a second shift will move the westbound traffic back to the right creating a center work zone. The second configuration will be in place for approximately five days and two westbound lanes of traffic will continue to be maintained.

Once the Route 72 westbound culvert work is completed, construction will begin on the eastbound side of Route 72. At that time, the eastbound travel lanes will be shifted to the left. After approximately five days, or upon completion of work on that portion of the road, the eastbound traffic will be shifted to the right.

Contractors will be working 24 hours a day, seven days per week, weather permitting, until the culvert construction is completed.   

The $8.6 million federally-funded Route 72 East Road project will provide highway and signal intersection improvements to address congestion and safety concerns. Improvements are scheduled to include the addition of a 10-foot shoulder in each direction on Route 72 between the Garden State Parkway and the Stafford Square Shopping Center, median widening, new barrier curbs, plus new traffic signals and roadway improvements at two Route 72 intersections - Roosevelt Boulevard and Doc Cramer Boulevard.

There will be a new culvert and a revised jug handle circling a water basin from Route 72 westbound to a relocated East Road (East Road is being moved approximately 200 feet east from its current location), two new storm water basins will be constructed further down on Route 72 westbound, and West Road will be relocated east from its current location between McDonalds and Mr. Tire to a new location between Element Restaurant and Starboard Plaza. Washington Road, located parallel to Route 72 will end at the new West Road.