Great Road Bridge over Bedens Brook Community Survey

By Barbara A. Preston l January 26, 2021

Somerset County is extending an invitation to residents and business owners who are located near the Great Road Bridge to represent their community interests and participate in the Local Concept Development (LCD) Study for the rehabilitation or replacement of the Great Road Bridge. The bridge carries Great Road (CR 601) over Bedens Brook and is located between Georgetown Franklin Turnpike (CR 518) to the north and Cherry Valley Road to the south.

Public awareness of this study is critical since rehabilitation or replacement of the structure may involve detours and delays for the traveling public. Take the survey. Visit the Somerset County Great Road Bridge Study website.

The project team will be scheduling community stakeholders meetings beginning in February to present the project status and receive stakeholders’ input. The primary responsibilities of the stakeholders are to assist in identifying the project’s purpose and need, represent the interests of the community, and to assist in the development of conceptual alternatives and the recommendation of the Preliminary Preferred Alternative (PPA). The project team will also schedule and hold Public Information Centers (PIC), which will be open to the public. At the initial community stakeholders meeting, the project team will introduce the project, present the project information, discuss the bridge condition, and obtain input from the stakeholders on community interests and issues toward developing a draft purpose and need statement. Following this meeting, the project team will hold an open house format PIC to present the Great Road Bridge LCD Study and obtain input from the public. The project team will take the input received from the initial stakeholders meeting and PIC and then develop conceptual alternatives which will be presented at a subsequent community stakeholders meeting and PIC.

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This survey is an opportunity to express your interest in becoming a stakeholder for this study and to provide any information you wish to share with the project team.

Built in 1983, the two-lane bridge is approximately 96 feet long and has an out-to-out width of 32 feet. The bridge is a two-span structure with simply supported steel I-beams supported on cast-in-place concrete abutments and a single pier. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2008 to address the deterioration of the original open steel grid deck by encasing it in a composite concrete deck overlaid with a bituminous wearing surface. If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact: Lili H. Tsu, Somerset County project manager, Tsu@co.somerset.nj.us, 908.231.7079.