Route 206 in Princeton area to remain closed … but for how long?

UPDATE: A DOT alert mistakenly said the closure would remain until April 29. The DOT has since corrected its alert, and that is reflected below.

Route 206 commuters face a tough week — and possibly longer — as the the bridge over Stony Brook in Princeton remains closed.

A project that began with single-lane closures last week escalated into a full closure on Friday, with estimates for how long the road would remain blocked off growing several times.

New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Israel said the historic crossing, the oldest active bridge in the state, would remain closed on Monday and Tuesday as repairs to cracks discovered in the bridge's structure are taking much longer than expected.

Princeton Police, in an alert issued Sunday, said the crossing would remain closed all week and "possibly longer" as "additional extensive repairs have been determined to be necessary prior to the structure being reopened." Israel said he couldn't yet confirm that but expected to have more information later Monday.

In an online alert Monday morning, the DOT mistakenly said construction would have all lanes closed and detoured until the end of April 29. But Israel said that was instead intended to read Feb. 29. An updated version of the alert, once corrected, said the closure would be until March 4 — Friday, but Israel hadn't confirmed that directly.

According to the alert, the closure is between Route 604/Elm Road in Princeton Township and Route 569/Carter Road in Lawrence Township.

The DOT began a project last week to replace a collapsed parapet, a low protective wall, on the southbound side of the stone bridge and began putting concrete barriers at the north and south entrances to the bridge. The cracks were discovered during an inspection last Thursday and a full closure of the bridge was put into place on Friday.

New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams advised all commuters that go through that area to allow a little extra time for their drive. “The side roads being used as detours took on lots of extra traffic," said Williams of last Friday's closure. "People had a tough time getting out of their neighborhoods."