A 2019 plan to name a dead-end lane off Boat Club Court for former mayor Ed McKenna was dropped at McKenna’s request. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council divided Wednesday night over a proposed policy regarding official memorials.
At least two council members voiced support for allowing streets, parks and structures for honorees who are still among the living; one spoke against it; another suggested erecting omnibus memorials.
State Senator Joe Kyrillos at the opening of the new bridge in May, 2015. Freehold John Curley is at left. Below, a Google Satellite view of the bridge. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
For who knows how long, the West Front Front Street bridge connecting Red Bank and Middletown has been colloquially known as “Hubbard’s Bridge.” To Monmouth County, which owns the span and replaced it three years ago, it’s “S-17.”
As of Thursday, though, the 488-foot connector over the upper Navesink River has a new name: the “Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos Bridge.”
Well, there’s one way to cool off in the sweltering heat and humidity: go topless. And for less-than-attentive truck drivers, the North Jersey Coast Line trestle at Hubbard’s Bridge in Red Bank stands ready to accommodate, as it did yet again early Monday afternoon. It was not immediately known if the man at right was the driver. (Photo by Ken Kalada. Click to enlarge.)
So, how’s the final paving of Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown going? It’s not, apparently.
Contrary to multiple alerts about overnight closings from Monmouth County, which owns the bridge, as well as from the two towns the bridge connects, paving work that was to have been done this week hasn’t been, with the latest postponement occurring on Thursday.
A county spokeswoman offered no reason for the inactivity, but said the county is on track to complete all work on the new West Front Street span by the end of April. Meantime, the overnight closures for the paving work have not yet been rescheduled, she said.(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The paving of Hubbard’s Bridge on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown will require an additional night of closure between 8 p.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, according to an alert from Red Bank borough. Monmouth County officials had previously expected the work to be finished Wednesday night. Motorists are advised to plan alternate routes.
Hubbard’s Bridge on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown will be closed for paving from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to an alert from Red Bank borough. Motorists are advised to plan alternate routes. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
After serving as the “temporary” Hubbard’s Bridge on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown for 11 years, the modular structure had been completely dismantled Thursday. The span, seen during deconstruction in September above right, was replaced earlier this year by anew one at a cost of $21.9 million.
Monmouth County officials have previously said the modular structure may be reassembled elsewhere. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Motorists and pedestrians crossing the new Hubbards Bridge on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown in recent days have been treated to an unusual sight: the piece-by-piece dismantling of the “temporary” bridge it replaced.
As part of the $21.9 million bridge project, the modular span, which was in place for 11 years, is to be removed by next spring for possible reassembly elsewhere, Monmouth County officials have said. (Photos by John T. Ward and Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
After a two-week closure that slowed traffic to a crawl, the new Hubbards Bridge on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown reopened to traffic Wednesday morning.
The closure was required to allow for reconstruction of the intersections on both ends of the spans the Red Bank side is shown above, as seen Tuesday afternoon.
The shutdown was also needed to permit crews to relocate overhead utilities running alongside the old bridge to underneath the new span. That work is still underway, and may require alternating traffic flows Wednesday and Thursday, Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Responding to a gas leak reported shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Rector Place and West Front Street in Red Bank, a crew from New Jersey Natural Gas Company stopped the leak at 5:44 p.m. Details about the incident were not immediately available. The Red Bank Fire Department also responded.
The intersection is one of two now closed to traffic for reconstruction in conjunction with utility work on the new Hubbard’s Bridge that has detours in place for two-to-three weeks, causing significant traffic delays. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The new, not-quite-completed Hubbards Bridge, on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown, and the intersections at both ends will be closed to all traffic for two weeks starting Wednesday, August 12, Monmouth County officials announced late Friday.
The newly not-quite-completed Hubbards Bridge, on West Front Street between Red Bank and Middletown, will be closed to all traffic beginning at 7:30 p.m. to accommodate utility work, Red Bank police announced Tuesday.
During that time, southbound traffic on Shrewsbury Avenue will be detoured onto Bridge Avenue to bypass the area. Motorists are asked to plan an alternate route or follow the posted detour.
The bridge is scheduled to re-open before the Friday morning rush hour, police said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The first few cars of eastbound traffic head toward Red Bank over the the new West Front Street bridge between Red Bank and Middletown Monday morning. Below, Red Bank Marina owner Steve Remaley with Red Bank Councilman Mike DuPont. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Slightly over budget but on time, the new West Front Street bridge linking Red Bank and Middletown opened Monday morning, replacing a clanging “temporary” structure amid forecasts that it might last for 75 or more years.
Though cosmetic work on the bridge will continue for several weeks, the opening – on the cusp of the summer season, and with a temporary closure of the nearby Oceanic Bridge about to begin – marked a victory against a ticking clock, Freeholder Tom Arnone told redbankgreen.
“It was all-hands-on” to get the bridge open after a five-month closure, he said.
As seen in these photos taken Sunday afternoon, the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown still has a punchlist of unfinished details, such as the installation of decorative lamps, as seen at right. Still, the span is slated to open Monday with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting on the Middletown side, Monmouth County officials said Friday.
Above is a view from the Middletown side, including a new “overheight vehicle” warning drivers of trucks and other large vehicles of the 10-foot, 11-inch trestle clearance on the Red Bank side that has claimed many a truck roof. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
An unofficial count put runner Julie Buffardi of Red Bank, above, as the fourth pedestrian to cross the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown after it was opened to pedestrians and bicyclists Saturday afternoon.
The span is slated to open Monday with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting on the Middletown side, Monmouth County officials said Friday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
After nearly five months of detours affecting thousands of commuters, the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown is slated to open Monday with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting on the Middletown side, Monmouth County officials said Friday.
A worker on the site told redbankgreen that the new span – shown at right in red, just north of the “temporary” bridge it replaces – may open to traffic on Sunday. But Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell that he was unaware of any plans for an early opening. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Two weeks before its scheduled completion, the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown showed further signs of advancement Monday, including a sidewalk along part of the northern rim.
Monmouth County officials say the new bridge, which will replace the steel structure that’s been closed since the start of the year, will open May 17. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
With one month to go before a self-imposed completion deadline, the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown appeared to be making rapid progress last Friday. The semblance of a roadway appeared between the bridge deck and West Front Street in Middletown, above, and parapet walls that line the northern edge of the span were tied into the existing retaining wall of a residential property, as seen at right.
The existing temporary steel span that adjoins the new bridge has been closed to vehicular trafic since the start of the year, but remains open to pedestrians and bicyclists. Monmouth County officials say the new bridge will open May 17. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Parapets similar to those on the nearby Route 35 Cooper’s Bridge were being installed on the new Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown last week, as seen from the existing temporary steel span, which has been closed since the start of the year but remains open to pedestrians and bicyclists.
Despite the harsh winter, the Monmouth County Engineer’s office still expects the new bridge, which spans the Swimming River at West Front Street, to be completed by May 16, a spokeswoman tells redbankgreen. (Photo above by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
Beginning next Monday, or thereabouts, Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown will be closed to traffic for four months as a new span, at left above, is completed, Monmouth County officials said this week. The existing steel structure, right, installed as a temporary fix a decade ago, will be dismantled for future use elsewhere, officials have said. (Click to enlarge)
See detour information and bridge factoids below, courtesy of Monmouth County (except for the cheeky last one).
“There’s no money for business interruption,” says Red Bank Marina owner Steve Remaley, below, who also stands to lose land on both sides of the bridge. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steve Remaley is about to get it from all sides.
As Monmouth County nears its long-overdue replacement of Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown starting early next year, the owner of Red Bank Marina is facing:
• the loss of a large parcel of land, opposite his shop on West Front Street, where many of his customers park their vehicles and boat trailers
• the loss of a strip of land on the marina’s main property for the creation of a new pedestrian and bike path to Shrewsbury Avenue
• up to two years of diminished business, including a stretch of at least three months during which bridge traffic will be shut down entirely.
And that’s the best-case scenario.
“I have no idea what I’m in for,” Remaley tells redbankgreen, leaning on a boat being readied for spring and summer use. “This could be the best thing to ever happen to me, or the worst.”
The replacement of the Shrewsbury Avenue main is to be timed with the replacement of Hubbards Bridge on West Front Street. (Click to enlarge)
Homes and businesses serviced by an antiquated water supply line on Red Bank’s West Side are finally going to get the water pressure they’ve been demanding for years, borough officials say.
A replacement of the existing four-inch main running beneath Shrewsbury Avenue with an eight-incher is on the drawing board and about to get financing.
The completion of the project, however, is months away.
County workers take soil samples from the bed of the Navesink River at Hubbards Bridge last week.
It looks like a cross between Huck Finn’s raft and an oil prospector’s rig.
But a vessel seen off Hubbards Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown last week was there to probe the bottom of the Navesink River for the best locations for the foundations of a replacement for the temporary structure.
A 2019 plan to name a dead-end lane off Boat Club Court for former mayor Ed McKenna was dropped at McKenna’s request. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
