When two sides meet
Work on Squirrelwood Road Bridge expected to be finished on time
By: Matt Fagan
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WOODLAND PARK - A year into the Squirrelwood Road Bridge replacement project, state officials said the work is on schedule to be completed by this fall. [2025]
..... However, which also spans Interstate 80, a few hundred feet up the road, has no estimated completion date, state Transpiration Department officials said.
..... The $12.2 million project to replace the Squirrelwood Road Bridge was started in the spring of 2024 and was estimated to take between 18 and 24 months. The bridge which crosses over Route 80 and connects Woodland Park to Paterson, need to be replaced because it was decaying and sat too low over the highway.
..... The work has been detouring motorists.
..... State Transpiration Public Information Officer Lizzy Galamba said the project has been split into two stages.
.....
In Stage 1, work is focused on Squirrelwood Road eastbound. The bridge demolition, abutment and pier reconstitution, drainage and gas main upgrades, signage installation and pouring of the concrete deck has been completed.
..... Construction of the new eastbound bridge approaches, bridge parapet and temporary walkway is progressing, transpiration officials said.
.....
Stage 2 will take place on Squirrelwood Road westbound and will include the demolitions of the bridge and the reconstruction of the bridge;s abutments, concrete deck, parapet and approaches.
..... Woodland Park Mayor Tracy Kallert said state officials told her that now that the weather has improved, the contractors will return to begin "ramping up operations."
..... The project has proceeded better than expected, Kallert said.
..... "It is not the great disruption or hardship that we initially thought," Kallert said. "We've had relatively few complaints so far."
.....
This work also include the remaining drainage and gas main upgrades, traffic signal installation, sidewalk and curb, construction and final paving.
Tafe Avenue Pedestrian Bridge
..... While much of the construction involving the Tafe Avenue Pedestrian Bridge has been completed,, the one-piece green bridge itself has been positioned along the side of the road since late autumn, waiting to be installed.
..... Also completed are the pedestrian ramps on both sides of the bridge and the installation of new drainage, electrical conduct and noise barriers. However, before the bridge can be installed, inspections must be completed to ensure the bridge meets stringent standards and requirements, Galamba said.
.....
This process is taking longer than expected, she said, which has caused a delay in installing the bridge.
..... "Once the inspections are complete, the installation process is expected to take one month," Galamba said.
More route 80 to come
..... Once completed, the state Transportation Department still plans to do more work on the interstate highway. Beginning in 2027, a massive $900 million bridges and widen lanes on Route 80 west from Totowa to Hackensack.
..... Construction on the federally funded project of highway in Passaic and Bergen counties is expected to begin at Riverview Drive in Totowa in 2027 and be completed in fall 2037 at Polifly Road in Hackensack.
..... Under the plan, workers will make their way east through Totowa, Woodland Park, Paterson, Elmwood Park, Saddle brook, Rochelle Park and Hackensack.