Fish House Road ramp to Route 7 westbound to be closed and detoured this weekend for utility work

Weekend detour necessary as Wittpenn Bridge project advances

(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced the closure of the Fish House Road ramp to Route 7 westbound this weekend for utility work, as the Route 7/Wittpenn Bridge replacement project advances between Kearny and Jersey City in Hudson County.

Beginning at 10 p.m. tonight, Friday, May 10, until 5:30 a.m. Monday, May 13, NJDOT’s contractor, George Harms Construction Co., is scheduled to close and detour the Fish House Road ramp to Route 7 westbound in Kearny for utility work.  Fish House Road will be fully closed north of Central & Pennsylvania Avenues.  

Traffic to Fish House Road will be directed at the intersection of Route 1&9 Truck and Central Avenue ramps to follow a detour along Route 1&9 Truck northbound.  Local access on Central Avenue to all South Kearny businesses will be maintained. Access to Pennsylvania Avenue, which leads to Fish House Road, will be maintained for business up to the CSX Intermodal Facility.
Motorists are advised to expect delays and plan accordingly. The following detour will be in place this weekend:

Fish House Road ramp to Route 7 westbound detour

• At the intersection of Route 1&9 Truck and the Central Avenue ramps motorists will be directed to continue on Route 1&9 Truck northbound over the Hackensack River
• Stay in the left lane to stay on Route 1&9T northbound
• Turn left at the light to stay on Route 1&9T northbound
• Continue on Route 1&9T northbound and follow signs for Route 7 westbound
     

In November 2011, NJDOT began construction on the first contract of the $480 million project, to completely replace the existing structurally deficient Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge over the Hackensack River with a new, wider vertical lift bridge. Construction of the new bridge is being accomplished in five separate contracts. The first two contracts that built the river piers, fender system and the east approach spans for the new vertical lift bridge have been completed. The third and fourth contracts of construction that will build the west approach spans, the Fish House Road Pump Station, advance utilities, embankment and the new vertical lift bridge span & towers are currently under construction. The new bridge is expected to be open to traffic in 2020. The overall project is anticipated to be completed the end of 2022

Permanent and portable variable message signs are being utilized to provide advance notification to the public of all traffic pattern changes associated with the work.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors.  Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website www.511nj.org for real-time travel information and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NJDOT_info.

Please note, the NJDOT Communications office has a new phone number – 609.963.1975