Route 72 Paving Project Continues

Route 72 in Manahawkin (Photo by Jason Allentoff)

  STAFFORD – Final milling and paving will be done to wrap up the East Road and Route 72 project, the State Department of Transportation announced.

  Work will start at 8 p.m. on May 29. It will also continue overnight for about a month. After local roads are done, Earle Asphalt Co. will move on to Route 72.

  Starting Friday, May 29 at 8 p.m., these roads will be milled and paved (not in this order):

  • West Road
  • East Road
  • Washington Avenue
  • West Connector Road
  • Doc Cramer Boulevard
  • Martin Truex Boulevard

  Once the work gets to Route 72, there will be lane closures, the DOT said. The entire project is expected to be done at the end of summer.

  The $11.6 million federally-funded Route 72 East Road project included the addition of a 10-foot shoulder in each direction on Route 72 between the Garden State Parkway and the Stafford Square Shopping Center, median widening, new barrier curbs, new traffic signals and roadway improvements at two Route 72 intersections – Roosevelt Boulevard and Doc Cramer Boulevard.

  A new culvert and a revised jug handle circling a water basin from Route 72 westbound to a relocated East Road were constructed and moved approximately 200 feet east from its previous location. In addition, two new storm water basins were constructed further down on Route 72 westbound, and West Road was relocated east from its current location between McDonalds and Mr. Tire to a new location between Element Restaurant and Starboard Plaza. Washington Road, located parallel to Route 72 now ends at the new West Road.