Friday, December 3, 2004

Officials Meet to Discuss Dorset Avenue Bridge Repairs

Atlantic County officials met earlier today with Ventnor City officials and NJ Transit representatives to discuss proposed emergency repairs to the Dorset Avenue Bridge. A recent state inspection of the bridge identified a badly deteriorated steel beam that requires replacement. As a result, the county imposed emergency weight and speed restrictions on the bridge on December 2.

The contractor is now in the process of obtaining materials and fabricating the required parts. Until the repairs can be made, a 3 ton weight limit will remain in place. Message boards have been placed on Ventnor Avenue, Albany Avenue and Dorset Avenue advising drivers of the new weight limit and the newly posted speed reduction of 25 mph on Dorset Avenue.

Repairs are expected to be completed in approximately three weeks, pending availability of materials. During this time, the Ventnor City Police Department and Fire Department will take appropriate steps to ensure full coverage of services in both lower Ventnor and Ventnor Heights. School buses will be using Albany Avenue as an alternate route. Students may experience minor delays.

As of December 4, NJ Transit will revise its schedule to service Ventnor Heights with a free shuttle until repairs are completed. This new schedule is available online at www.njtransit.com and will be posted at each of the bus stops in Ventnor Heights.

Parking on some Ventnor streets will be restricted to one side to help with traffic flow and allow overweight vehicles to turn back from the bridge when necessary.

Atlantic County will continue to provide regular advisories to keep the traveling public informed of any changes to traffic patterns and the progress of repairs.

For more information, please contact Joe Maher, Department Head of Planning, at (609) 645-5898.

Click here for NJ Transit schedule

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