Construction Follies

There's little reason why this particular construction project to rebuild a bridge on the heavily trafficked Route 46 should take as long as this report claims.

Work to replace the Route 46 bridge deck between the Hazel Street and Broad Street exit ramps began March 1 and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

But local business owners said the project has affected business, and motorists and residents said they’ve been forced to add more time to their commutes in order to get through the traffic scrum.

Michael Troissi, 40, of Clifton, who uses the road to get to work, said he understands that the construction is for the greater good, but he doesn’t understand why the work has to be done during the day.

"It’s been horrible," Troissi said. "It’d be nice if they could do their work at night or over the weekend."

The bridge is in a commercial area and the bottleneck can extend to the Garden State Parkway because the construction is just past the merge from the Garden State Parkway offramp onto Rt. 46 East. Traffic is a nightmare during rush hour, and yet the DOT doesn't seem to have any incentives to complete the work faster, or that construction take place during nights and weekends.

I travel that route fairly regularly on weekends, or at least I now try to avoid it at all costs because of the traffic, particularly in the East bound direction.

The state should look into speeding the construction. The state and construction companies behind the rebuilding of the Essex Street overpass on Rt. 17 somehow managed to complete the work months ahead of schedule and claimed bonuses for doing so. Why is that not done in every construction project in the state? Time is money, and commuters and businesses along the Rt. 46 corridor are losing time and money because of the construction delays.