Mayor: NJDOT finished bridge inspections; state and county pressed to help Village Square businesses

The mayor told the West Windsor Township Council on March 30 that NJDOT completed inspections of the Clarksville/Millstone River bridge on March 20 and that his office is pressing state and county partners to expedite analysis and help affected businesses in Village Square.

"As of March 20, they have finished all inspections of the bridge," the mayor said, adding that NJDOT estimated about four weeks for an initial analysis and that the new NJDOT commissioner has been engaged to expedite the work. He said the administration has sought Amtrak cooperation to secure nighttime outages that would allow repairs without excessive delays.

The mayor described parallel efforts to seek state and county financial assistance for businesses in the Village Square complex that have struggled since the bridge closure. He said the governor’s office and NJDOT have been involved: "The governor and commissioner are working with Amtrak to make sure availability of Amtrak outages doesn't become a rate-limiting step," he said.

Council members and staff noted the town had requested a state of emergency declaration on behalf of the business area; the mayor said the governor’s office declined to declare a formal emergency but pledged assistance. The mayor also thanked local volunteers and cited a petition he said had gathered more than 1,200 signatures to support business relief.

The mayor framed the bridge issue as a public-safety and traffic problem, saying response times to incidents on the far side of the bridge have increased significantly during the closure. He said the township will continue to press state and federal partners for timely options and will report back when the NJDOT analysis is complete.