The Billion Dollar Direct Connection Road project in Bellmawr NJ has seen significant construction progress this year with the new Wall 22 and Browning Road Bridge rebuilds underway… as well as a new law from Assemblyman Moen regarding future transportation construction in New Jersey.
Direct Connection is a many-year project with the primary goal of a more direct and straighter passageway of Route 295 through the large Bellmawr interchange area. As part of the project, significant upgrades are also taking place for Route 42 and Interstate 76, which also move through this complex interchange of roads.
One unforeseen challenge for the project is the large $90+ Million rebuild of a raised section of roadway which had collapsed in 2021, prior to the roadway being open to commuters. This led to analysis of the failure, an all-new redesign for the construction of the raised wall and roadway, as well as garnering the attention of elected officials.
Steve Schapiro of NJDOT’s Media Team provided 42Freeway with an update on the Direct Connection progress, as well as additional details on the new Transportation Construction law… which I’ve incorporated into this article.
New Transportation Construction Law
Earlier this month Assemblyman William Moen Jr announced that his bill A3904 requiring new monitoring of Transportation Construction, has been signed into law by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Moen is interested in all of South Jersey’s road construction efforts, but he has also been a Bellmawr resident for most of his life and has followed the efforts of the Direct Connection project closely.
The roadway collapse in 2021 was a shock to everyone, and Moen described it as “a wake-up call”. In defining the need for the new legislation, the statement goes on to say an investigation on the Wall 22 incident concluded that factors leading to the collapse included the use of the wrong type of sand, as well as being built on land previously showing signs of instability. Heavy rains were also a factor.
NJDOT adds that the new law reinforces and formalizes NJDOT’s stringent testing and monitoring protocols and procedures for their projects.
It ensures a geotechnical engineer is involved in the design and construction phases of a project. The geotechnical engineer provides recommendations on the type and frequency of geotechnical, groundwater and deformation testing and monitoring to be performed for a project. In addition, if groundwater testing and monitoring data was collected more than five years before construction begins, additional testing and monitoring would be required to ensure the assumptions upon which the design was based are still valid and have not changed. The law also provides for continued deformation monitoring if deemed appropriate by the geotechnical engineer.
NJDOT description of Assemblyman William Moen Jr’s new law A3904
Direct Connect – The Wall
The replacement Wall 22 effort is an entirely new design based on poured-in-place concrete wall sections which are connected to a foundation of hundreds of steel piles driven down deep into the ground. This design ensures that the wall will stay in place.
NJDOT states that 85% of the wall is rebuilt, with the initial above ground focus being on the main front concrete structure.
My observations yesterday are that on the northern end, construction crews have connected the wall to the original MSE section. They are now focusing on the southern abutment end where the to-be-built 295 overpass will connect to.
Looking at the construction effort now, you can clearly see that the poured concrete wall is significantly taller than prior in that it goes down much deeper and connects to the new underground foundation. In the prior effort, the retaining wall design sat higher atop a raised sand-based slope.
That being said, we will see the return of a raised earth slope at the front of the wall, but it will not be supporting any of the wall or roadway weight and is needed more for management of surface water.
Currently it appears crews are applying a waterproofing agent on that lower segment of the new wall, ahead of eventually bringing in earth for the new front slope.
NJDOT states that once the Wall 22 and abutment segments are completed over the summer, work will begin to backfill the raised roadway area with soil, and to redevelop the roadway on top including installation of new drainage, lighting, parapets and curbs.
Lane Shift – New Ramp
In a few weeks, lane shifts will take place for 295 South traffic which comes from around the sharp Al-Jo’s curve heading on to 295 south.
Mostly a lane shift would not seem to be a big deal as area commuters have experienced dozens of lane shifts over the years… but what’s different about this effort is, an entirely new long ramp will finally come into play!
Several years ago a long southbound ramp was developed on the western edge of the lowered roadway “bowl”. That ramp rises up from the lower levels of 42 and 76 and heads back up to Route 295 South on its way to Westville and other parts South.
And yes, it is expected in the next few weeks traffic will be finally utilizing that new ramp!
Simply, the plan is for traffic travelling down to 295 South through Bellmawr and looking to continue on through 295 South will stay to the far right as they travel underneath the Browning Road bridge construction efforts, then head up that new ramp and continue to the right and head down 295 south.
And yes, cars will also still be able to travel from 295 South onto 42 South, supported by a separate single lane that is also shifted to that far right side.
These traffic movements are being done so that additional column construction can take place in the center of the lower roadway “bowl”. Those columns will support the Route 295 roadway which will eventually travel over top of the new Browning Road bridge.
In my current photos you can see outer support column work that is already underway. It’s an extra challenge to the design of a large project like this when the traffic still needs to flow, as engineers have to consider “ok while we’re there we should also build…”
One aspect of the project coming up that I was not aware of is a new retaining wall will be built near Essex Avenue. This information was provided in the NJDOT update to 42Freeway but I don’t have specifics on that just yet.
Browning Road Bridge Rebuild
Construction of the new Browning Road Bridge is progressing nicely with utility relocation onto the new bridge being nearly completed, and the deck pans and bridge joint have been installed already.
NJDOT contractors expect to pour the concrete deck later this spring. Once that is complete, work on the parapets and on the approaches to the new bridge will take place.
The new Browning Road ridge is expected to open this fall, and then the temporary bridge will be dismantled.
Direct Connection Status
All of the work that is in progress now is still part of Contract 3, which is expected to be completed in 2028.
Contract 4 is the final piece of this complex puzzle and is in final design stage, and a timeframe has yet to be determined.
That being said I had previously reported that as part of a Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission meeting it was stated the expected final completion date for the full project is 2032. Final design efforts could impact that date.
