NJDOT has just announced that as part of the ongoing Missing Moves project, Route 42 Northbound in the area of the Route 55 merge will be split to create a contractor work area in the center of the 1st and 2nd lanes.
To facilitate this change, 8pm Thursday (June 29) the two left lanes of route 42 North will be temporarily closed, leaving at least one lane operational.
By 6:00 AM Friday morning there will be three lanes active again, which is the normal number of lanes.
What will be different through the summer is the added construction area between the first and second lanes.
The single leftmost lane will be shifted over. Next to that there will be a center working area for contractors, and then on the right side will be the remaining two lanes.
This finally clarifies to us why contractors had been working in the center median in this area of Route 42, and paving it with asphalt.
While we know this is all part of the larger Missing Moves project, I am not aware of what this lane shift work is facilitating.
Likely it’s related to the Route 55 down ramp merge.
The large Route 55 North overpass will be converted to two lanes as part of the Missing Moves project, and some adjustments of Route 42 will lanes will take place to accomodate that.
When Missing Moves is fully completed, Route 55 North will have two lanes all the way down to the Route 42 level… and 42 will be adjusted here to minimize full lane merges.
As an example, travelers on Route 55 North overpass will be able to stay in the right-most lane over the bridge and down the ramp… and just stay in that lane and access directly into the new Missing Moves ramps!
So we can assume that this center work split effort is related to that, based on its close proximity to the merge.
There is another Route 42 lane shift in the works just a mile or so south!
I previously reported that the Route 42 Over Blackwood Trail project will also require lane shifts. In that case the traffic will not be split, but all lanes will be shifted over to the center.
While the center of that Route 42 segment is asphalted, NJDOT has not announced a date for that shift.
For more on area road projects, check my June 1st post which also includes a Youtube video!
NJDOT Press Release
(Trenton) – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced lane closures on Route 42 northbound tonight, as the I-295/Route 42 Missing Moves project advances in Deptford, Gloucester County.
Beginning at 8 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, June 28, until 6 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, June 29, NJDOT’s contractor, South State Inc., is scheduled to close the two left lanes on Route 42 northbound just before Route 55 merges with Route 42. The lane closures are necessary to implement a traffic shift. At least one lane of traffic will be maintained overnight. Motorists are advised to slow down, use caution, and expect delays or plan an alternate route.
By 6 a.m., Thursday, June 29, Route 42 northbound will be split with a work zone in the middle of the roadway. One lane of traffic will be maintained to the left of the work zone, and two lanes will be maintained to the right of the work zone. This traffic pattern is expected to remain in place until the end of the summer.
The $180 million federally-funded project will build new ramps connecting Route 42 northbound to I-295 southbound, and I-295 northbound to Route 42 southbound in order to allow for the direct movement of traffic between the two roadways. These are commonly known as the “missing moves.” The project will also include the demolition and reconstruction of the Creek Road Bridge over I-295 between Route 42 and Almonesson Road. The majority of the project will be built off of the roadways and will have minimal impact on traffic on Route 42 and I-295. The project is expected to be completed in late 2023.
Variable Message Signs are being utilized to provide advance notification to the motoring public of all traffic pattern changes associated with the work. The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors.
Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website www.511nj.org for construction updates and real-time travel information and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NewJerseyDOT and our Facebook page.