More Construction Planned For Route 202

The Morris County engineering department is set to begin yet another construction project on 202 in the Township on September 1.

According to Stephen Hammond, a representative from the county engineering office, the project, which is expected to take two to three weeks to complete, is being undertaken to address drainage issues in the area of Majorca Road and the underpass on Whitehall Road in Towaco.

"The drainage issues in that area are extensive," he said. "The problems are due to years of collected water by the railroad that has not been taken care of properly. There have been problems with bucking and heaving. Once we take care of the drainage problem, the road should stay in pretty good shape."

The county engineering department said the entire project, which will include milling and paving, should be completed around September 22.

Montville Township engineer Anthony Barile was not available for comment.

A release on the township's website says that, during the drainage improvement phase of the project, alternating-direction traffic will be able to drive under the Whitehall Road bridge, however, during the road resurfacing phase, access to Route 202 from Whitehall Road will be closed. Traffic will be diverted to Firehouse Road.

According to the county engineering department, the majority of the project's time will be taken up fixing the drainage issues, while only a few days will be focused on resurfacing.

This project is the second road improvement initiative to be implemented by the county for the Township in August. Route 202 was resurfaced in Montville between the public safety building and Candlewick Drive around August 5, causing delays and traffic slowdowns that lasted up to 15 minutes.

Route 202 in Montville also saw delays between the Route 287 northbound entrance ramp and the public safety building earlier this year due to a construction project by PSE&G that reduced the road to one lane.