Route 78 road work creates slow start to Tuesday commute

TRENTON — The morning commute got off to a bad start on Tuesday morning in three areas.

A slab replacement and overpass painting project by the Delaware River Joint Bridge Commission left just one eastbound lane open over the Route 78 toll bridge into New Jersey. Delays extended for several miles back into Pennsylvania.

Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission spokesman Joe Donnelly told New Jersey 101.5 one of the painting crews had a mechanical problem with their equipment which delayed the opening of the lanes until after 6 a.m. "It takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour for the traffic to get back to normal," Donnelly said.

Donnelly said two lanes will be taken eastbound with the work again starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night. At least one lane will be reopened around 5 a.m.

Only two of the three lanes will be available the rest of the week, around the clock, through the same area. The overpasses to be painted include Edge Road in Pohatcong and Alpha and Carpentersville Road in Pohatcong.

The work is part of the same project that has closed one lane westbound on weekends, creating multi-mile backups into Pennsylvania. The same westbound restrictions are expected to be in place again this weekend.

The investigation of an overnight crash on Route 1 northbound in South Brunswick closed the road between Deans Lane and Henderson Road for about 6 hours.

Man hit by two trucks while walking across Route 1

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Road work on Route 22 westbound in Union left just one lane available between Morris Avenue and the Garden State Parkway for a second day. The work created long delays on Monday for drivers.

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