Route 35 Construction Means No Normal Summer For Drivers [AUDIO]

Construction on the 12.5 mile stretch of Route 35 through Ocean County will be done with every effort to not inconvenience drivers too much.  But Joe Dee, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation reminds drivers this won't be a "normal summer."

The $125 million federal project will take six years, and be broken into three separate projects, the first of which will be started in the northern section in Bay Head and Mantoloking around this summer.

Dee says while some parts of the twelve and half mile stretch from Point Pleasant Beach to Seaside Park didn't suffer major damage, other parts were devastated-specifically the Barnegat Peninsula from Seaside Heights to Bay Head.

While the road through Mantoloking is single lane, Dee says further south it splits into a two lane highway which allows them to accommodate traffic.

"We've designed this project so we don't push traffic onto local roads. What we will be doing is carrying out the construction activity in small segments along that 3.5 mile stretch of Route 35 in Mantoloking and Bay Head."

The reason for the small sections of construction, which will be anywhere from a quarter to half a mile, is so they can institute alternating traffic patterns at the construction areas.

"That's when you have a flag man or woman standing in the road with a stop and a go sign letting traffic flow on one direction and then stopping it to let traffic flow in the other direction."

Dee says visitors should expect more construction activity throughout that area in general as people rebuild their homes. The DOT's project will involve replacing the damaged storm water drainage system under the roadway and fortifying the road with a stable stone base.

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