Heading west on Route 78? Expect delays into PA

PHILLIPSBURG — Travelers heading to Pennsylvania on Route 78 this weekend will face potential long delays as only one lane will be available.

The closure of two lanes over the Route 78 toll bridge begins Friday night at 10 at the Carpentersville Road overpass in Pohatcong, over the length of the bridge to just beyond the overpass of PA Route 611 in Williams Township.

Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission spokesman Joe Donnelly said the closure of two of the three lanes will last for 57 hours until Monday morning at 7.

Getting off the highway at Route 173, the last exit in New Jersey, provides an alternative crossing by way of Route 22.

Drivers should expect delays between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. When the lanes were closed on March 17 and 18, three-mile backups developed for much of that weekend, according to Donnelly.

Crews will continue working on new westbound approach slabs at the toll bridge and the approach bridge that carries Route 78 westbound across Route 611 in Pennsylvania.

At the other end of Route 78 only one lane will be available eastbound on between exit 14 and 14A on the Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension until 5 a.m. for bridge deck repairs.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ