ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES THE REPLACEMENT OF THE LOCUST AVENUE BRIDGE IN BLOOMFIELD IS COMPLETE

ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES THE REPLACEMENT OF THE LOCUST AVENUE BRIDGE IN BLOOMFIELD IS COMPLETE

Published on January 12, 2023

 

Bloomfield, NJ – On Thursday, January 12th, Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. announced that the project to replace the Locust Avenue Bridge in Bloomfield with a new structure has been completed. The bridge modernization was included in a larger project to replace four culverts and bridges throughout Essex County. It is part of the County Executive’s ongoing initiative to modernize infrastructure and enhance safety for pedestrians and motorists.

“Residents rely on our County bridges and roads to get to work, go to school and travel about their daily routines. It has been my ongoing priority to ensure that our infrastructure is up to date, able to meet the growing demands of our community and provide the safest passage for pedestrians and motorists,” DiVincenzo said.

“Thank you for what you invest in our township and keeping our infrastructure up to date. It makes an impact on the community,” Commissioner Vice President Carlos Pomares, who is from Bloomfield, said. “This is a wonderful improvement and another terrific job,” Commissioner Patricia Sebold said.

“Maintaining our infrastructure is incredibly important to the vitality of our community. We appreciate projects like these by the County to improve our quality of life,” said Bloomfield Mayor Mike Venezia, who was joined by Councilman Rich Rockwell.

The original Locust Avenue Bridge was a two-lane bridge that crossed over Lloyd Brook and was originally built in 1930 and rehabilitated in 1975. The old bridge was in a deteriorating condition and exhibited substantial rust. The 30-foot-wide bridge was replaced with a similarly constructed structure.

Other bridges included in the initiative are the Mitchell Street Culvert on Mitchell Street in Orange, Freeman Street Culvert over Foulerton’s Brook in Roseland and Marion Avenue Culvert over a tributary of the West Branch of the Rahway River in Millburn in Millburn.

The Locust Avenue Bridge, Mitchell Street Culvert, Marion Avenue Culvert and Freeman Street Culvert were packaged together in the same project. French and Parrello was awarded a professional services contract to design the improvements to the four culverts and provide construction inspection services on the project. A publicly bid contract for $2,878,204 was awarded to Grade Construction from Paterson to replace the four culverts. The culvert improvements were funded with a grant from the NJ Department of Transportation Local Aid Program.