The Oceanic Bridge as seen from the Navesink last summer.
Nighttime users of the Oceanic Bridge between Middletown and Rumson are in for a doozie of detour this week.
Monmouth County last night began closing the bridge for repairs between 8p and 5a. The work is expected to be completed early Friday morning, according to a press release issued late Monday afternoon.
The closing means that motorists who use the bridge will have to travel miles out of their way to either the Cooper Bridge (Route 35) between Middletown and Red Bank or the Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge, itself a bottleneck because of construction on a replacement span.
From the announcement:
“While the county continues to pursue the replacement of the Oceanic Bridge, we are conducting this repair work now to keep the bridge operational and safe,” said Freeholder Director Barbara J. McMorrow. “The Oceanic Bridge repair project is part of the countys efforts to responsibly maintain its bridge and roadway infrastructure and to keep traffic moving.”