• A daytime Public Information Center will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sea Bright Municipal Building public meeting room at 1167 Ocean Ave. in Sea Bright. A brief presentation will be held at 2:30 p.m.
• An evening Public Information Center will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rumson-Fair Haven High School cafeteria at 74 Ridge Rd. in Rumson. A brief presentation will be held at 7 p.m.

This bridge connects Rumson and Sea Bright. Plans are advancing to replace the bridge that was built in 1950. The Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge is a critical transportation connection between the two boroughs as well as a flood evacuation route for the community of Sea Bright. Due to its age, the bridge has deteriorated over time and routine maintenance can no longer address the deficiencies.

The current phase of this project is Local Preliminary Engineering (LPE). The LPE Phase involves performing engineering and environmental tasks and documentation in order to obtain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) clearance for the project. Based on the Preliminary Preferred Alternative (PPA), a number of activities are simultaneously taking place: community involvement (meetings with affected property owners or business owners), agency consultation, environmental documentation, design level mapping and preliminary design services.

For those unable to attend and provide comment at the meetings, the county will accept written comments through July 8, 2016. Community feedback may lead to some minor adjustments to the PPA.

A Local Concept Development study for major rehabilitation or replacement of Bridge S-32 was completed in 2013 through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) using federal funding, with Monmouth County as the project sponsor. During this phase, a well-defined Purpose and Need Statement was developed focusing on the need to improve safety and maintain the current crossing over the Shrewsbury River. A number of sensible and practical conceptual alternatives were developed to meet the project goals and objectives.

In coordination with the NJTPA, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), local officials, community stakeholders, and the public; it was agreed, upon completion of an alternatives analysis, that the PPA’s preferred course of action to address the structural deficiencies is to replace the bridge with a new structure to the south of the existing bridge.

Resolutions of Support were passed by both the Borough of Rumson and Borough of Sea Bright for the Preferred Alternative. Improvements to the CR 520/Ward Avenue intersection are also proposed along with improvements to CR 520 and NJ Route 36 in the vicinity of the bridge to better accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists.

Written comments should be sent by email to engineer@co.monmouth.nj.us, by fax to 732-431-7765 or by mail to Inkyung Englehart, Project Coordinator, Monmouth County Department of Public Works, Division of Engineering, Hall of Records Annex, 1 East Main St, 3rd Floor, Freehold, NJ 07728.

Monmouth County is holding these meetings in cooperation with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The meetings are being conducted in conformance with federal and state regulations.

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