Notice Regarding the Lafayette Rt. 15 Bridge Replacement Project

A bridge replacement project will soon begin on Route 15 in Lafayette Township. This is the bridge over the Paulins Kill near the entrance to Lafayette Park also known as the Lafayette Pond located between the Meadows Road/Morris Farm Road intersection and Beaver Run Road- The project has a long timeline with preliminary work set to begin in August 2025 and ending in 2027. However it is important to note that the disruption in traffic patterns will occur during a much shorter window between October 2025 and April or May of 2026.

Over the last few weeks, Lafayette has participated in a NJDOT Preconstruction meeting and a separate onsite meeting with the DOT and the engineers and officials from Colonnelli Brothers, the company hired by the DOT to complete the project. Lafayette officials have also been in communication with local law enforcement and emergency management personnel so information can be disseminated to both the public and critical personnel during the bridge replacement.

During the design phase there was discussion about detours and lane closures including limiting access through the area to one lane with alternating NB and SB traffic controlled by traffic signaling for the duration of the bridge construction. Ultimately, with local input a decision was made to install a temporary bridge on the southbound side of the existing bridge to allow for two lanes accommodating both NB and SB traffic as it exists currently.

Nevertheless, during the phase of the project affecting traffic, there will be 25 days of an alternating NB and SB traffic pattern controlled by traffic lights on the one passable lane to allow for the installation of the temporary bridge. The anticipated date this will occur is October 2, 2025. Thereafter traffic will return to one lane in each direction while one side of the bridge is constructed. Later in the project there will be another 25 days of alternating traffic patterns when the contractor begins work to construct the other side of the new bridge. The forecasted date to open the new structure is May 2026.

These projects are always difficult particularly when it affects perhaps the most widely used State highway in the County, but the bridge needs to be replaced. It has been a project in the works for over a decade. Over the course of the last several years, local officials have consistently advised the NJDOT that traffic pattern disruptions during the summer with the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, Skylands Park and Poconos bound traffic would be catastrophic. The timeline proposed for the project involving the major traffic disruption is probably the most palatable under the circumstances. This is the most current information on this project but many factors can impact the current timeline. The DOT and contractor have assured Lafayette they will keep in close contact throughout the duration of the project to allow us to update the public, critical emergency management agencies, and schools in the County should there be any significant changes in the current timeline.

Kevin K. O'Leary