Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

BRIDGES HEAD IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

dscf22331101091Vehicles arriving onto the Sea Bright peninsula via the partially completed Route 36 bridge from Highlands over the weekend. (Photos by Dustin Racioppi)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Call it a tale of two bridges.

Over the Shrewsbury River, there’s progress. And not too far southwest, spanning the Navesink, there’s regression.

Not only can motorists see advances made on the new Route 36 bridge linking Sea Bright and Highlands, they can start taking advantage of the work from nearly two years of construction of the 65-foot high structure. A portion of the bridge opened to travelers on Friday.

dscf2229110109A sign announces the temporary weight ban on the Oceanic Bridge, seen here from the Rumson side. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

The New Jersey Department of Transportation has been working on replacing the existing bridge since early 2008, and plans to have the new bridge complete in spring 2011, according to its website.

The portion opened on Friday is only half of the $124 million project. Travelers to and from Sandy Hook, including bicyclists and pedestrians, still have to use the existing bridge while the DOT continues work on the new bridge.

Mary Butkus can’t wait for the bridge work to be over. She rides her bike from her Ocean Grove home up to the Coast Guard lighthouse about every chance she gets, and she wants the work over with already.

“I don’t know what’s going on. It’s been a mess for quite some time,” she said.

But while problems in that area appear at least halfway toward ending, it seems they’re just beginning between Rumson and Middletown.

Because of the drawbridge’s deteriorating parts, the Oceanic Bridge has a reduced weight limit, down to 3 tons, from ten. That has been causing some minor issues for Rumson, according to Mayor John Ekdahl. He said police have been manning the approach to the bridge making sure no vehicle over 3 tons — effectively, anything bigger than a passenger car — doesn’t try getting on the bridge. Several summonses have been handed out, Ekdahl said.

To this point it hasn’t been a terrible bother to the borough. Ekdahl said some schedule tweaks have helped the police department avoid using overtime to monitor the bridge, though it could happen. The bigger worry, Ekdahl said, is the expiration of the ban in two weeks.

“What happens after Nov. 15? We don’t know at this point,” Ekdahl said.

It’s up to Monmouth County to try and find a solution. Ekdahl said the bridge needs serious work to get to a safer status.

“The county has a dilemma,” Ekdahl said. “If you have to fix the drawbridge, undoubtedly the bridge is going to have to be closed for a long time.”

The Asbury Park Press reported last week that Monmouth County had planned to use $1.3 million in federal stimulus money to make temporary repairs on the Oceanic Bridge until federal officials said the life of those repairs doesn’t meet their criteria.

That sent county officials scrambling to use state funds earmarked for a bridge and dam replacement project in Manalapan on the Oceanic, the newspaper reports.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
LANTERNFLY PARTY
An invasive ailanthus tree sprouting in front of the US Post Office on Broad Street is covered with invasive spotted lantern fly nymphs Wedn ...
STREETCORNER SERENADE
An Irish doodle named Cheddar listens to native New Jerseyan, singer/songwriter and former Houston resident Tom Foti, (identified in the hea ...
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.
STRIPER RUN AT MARINE PARK
An angler pulls in a striped bass from the Marine Park bulkhead Tuesday evening. (photo by Partyline contributor Boris Kofman)  
COLD AS CANADA? CHECK.
A pair of goose sculptures propped atop an air conditioning unit on River Street in Red Bank.