By JOHN T. WARD

For six months, Salt Creek Grille owner Steve Bidgood has watched with guarded optimism the progress of work to replace the 100-foot-long bascule on the Oceanic Bridge over the Navesink River.

Denied since October the benefit of traffic the 72-year-old bridge was built to carry between Middletown and his side, Rumson, Bidgood’s foremost concern has been that the job wrap up, as advertised, by the start of the busy summer season – Memorial Day weekend.

“I’d love to see them do it,” Bidgood told redbankgreen this week, eyeing the elegant bridge framed by the restaurant’s windows. “If they do, I might even buy them dinner.”

It’s looking as though Bidgood will need to reserve a large table.

Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore, whose office is managing the project, tells redbankgreen that the Oceanic’s target reopening date remains Thursday, May 31.

An earlier reopening is possible, he said. But don’t count on it.

“We are doing everything we can, working with the contractor, to come in with the best possible date for reopening,” Ettore said Wednesday. “But there is critical work that remains, and that critical work has to by necessity take place at this late point in the project.”

Eighty-five-to-95 percent of the structural work is done, he said, but critical testing of the electrical and mechanical systems remains.

Ettore said the project “had a very tight window in which to complete a substantial amount of work” on the moving parts of the 2,752-foot-long span – by far the county’s longest. The timetable was designed to minimize the adverse economic impact on businesses that are reliant on bridge traffic, he said.

Aided by a snowless and unseasonably mild winter, it appears not a day of the summer season will be lost, Ettore said.

“The fact that we’re on-schedule is a real good sign, and we’re very happy with the contractor’s performance,” he said. The contractor on the $3.6 million job is Iron Bridge Group of North Brunswick.

Funding for the project came from the state, which prohibits early-completion incentives, Ettore said.

The repaired bascule is expected to have a useful life of 20 years, he said, but the long concrete approaches to the bascule are already overdue for replacement, a project that’s not expected to get into construction for at least three more years.

Local and county officials are hoping to persuade the federal government to fund another low-level drawbridge, rather than a high-arc, fixed span that area residents say would adversely affect property values and the aesthetics of the river.

The opening of a new bridge “is at least six years away, and it’s not inconceivable that it could be 10,” Ettore said.

Documents explaining the repair job can be found at the engineering department website.

Red Bank’s most prominent downtown clock may be stuck in winter, but a spring season less than a month old is already aching to turn into summer, it seems.

After a couple of (more) warmish days Friday and Saturday, temperatures are expected to hit the mid-70s Sunday, and climb past 80 on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Here’s the forecast:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind between 8 and 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 43. West wind between 7 and 9 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. West wind between 7 and 11 mph.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Southwest wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 75. West wind between 11 and 16 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62.

Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 64. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Wednesday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 62.

By JOHN T. WARD

Heading into a sunny Easter weekend, redbankgreen revisits the scene of the 2007 White Street Tree Slaughter, and finds the update equally sunny.

Five years ago this month, nine mature Bradford pear trees lining the Red Bank municipal parking lot on White Street were cut down by borough workers, prompting some jaw-dropping by passersby.

Fourteen new Harvest Gold Crabapple trees were planted in May 2007. (Click to enlarge)

The trees were growing into wires and liable to send limbs falling, tree experts said at the time. And they were soon replaced by 14 Harvest Gold crabapples.

So how are the babies doing? We asked borough Shade Tree Commission member Boris Kofman, who replied via email:

They’re all alive and doing pretty well! Given the tough conditions, that’s no small feat. DPU and STC have been taking care of them, with annual mulching and some pruning. Nature takes care of the rest.

Owner Tim Metzger says Manning, who was adopted on the day of the Giants‘ Super Bowl win in February and is named for Eli Manning, was enjoying the outing. “Every once in a while, a truck or a motorcycle will give him a start,” he said. “But he loves people.” (Click to enlarge)

Buds were bursting outside the Atrium at Navesink on Riverside Avenue in Red Bank Sunday as

Monday’s temperatures are expected to hit 71 degrees under partly sunny skies, according to the Weather Channel. Spring debuts Tuesday with highs of about 64. (Click to enlarge)