Patten Avenue bridge to reopen in December
$4.4M project will widen bridge, add sidewalk
BY LIZ SHEEHAN
Correspondent

LIZ SHEEHAN The Patten Avenue bridge, as viewed from Long Branch, is slated to be open to traffic in December, after more than a year of construction.

MONMOUTH BEACH — The Patten Avenue bridge, which connects the borough to the North Long Branch section of Long Branch, is scheduled to be open to traffic in early December, Monmouth County Engineer Joseph Ettore said last week.

When work on the bridge began after Labor Day last year, the date that was given for it to be ready for traffic was the end of October, with completion of the work in December, he said.

But Ettore said that the installation of the piles that support the bridge took “a little longer than anticipated.”

The bridge was built in 1942, he said, and had timber piles.

The work being done now will increase the width of the bridge from around 23 feet to 30 feet and include a 6-foot wide sidewalk, which was not present on the old bridge.

The contractor for the bridge is Marboro Inc., West End, he said.

Ettore said that the sharp curve on the Long Branch approach to the bridge had been smoothed out.

He said the total cost of the bridge would be $4,471,117.

The closing of the bridge has increased traffic on Riverdale Avenue and Ocean Avenue but decreased it in the western section of the borough, as motorists have to exit and enter the borough through Sea Bright to the north, or the portion of Long Branch south of the town rather than driving west to the bridge.

When work began on the project Police Chief Richard White said he welcomed the temporary closing of the bridge because of the decrease in traffic it would bring as did some residents in streets nearby who had to cope with heavy traffic in their neighborhood in the summer months.

Other residents who had used the bridge for access to towns west of the borough have found the project an inconvenience.

The completion of the bridge will close a long period of preparation for its renovation.

In November 2001, then Borough Commissioner William Barham, who is now a Monmouth County freeholder, said at a commissioners meeting that the county would begin to replace the bridge after Labor Day. But the work was held up because of problems, including getting permits and clearance from various government agencies.