NJDOT returns Route 52 to summer traffic pattern
Two travel lanes open between Ocean City

and Somers Point

(Trenton) - The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has returned Route 52 to two travel lanes in each direction for the summer season. 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, 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 began Contract B in early-September, when Route 52 was reduced from two lanes to one lane in each direction and shifted traffic to the west in Ocean City from West Avenue to Garrets Island.

NJDOT planned the project in a manner that minimally impacts traffic. No detours are planned during construction, and two lanes will remain open to traffic in each direction on Route 52 during the summer months. 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