Alexander Road Bridge

Did we really need to close the bridge?

I don't think so. Judge for yourself by looking at this picture (more discussion below the picture):

Observe that the old bridge is shown to the right of the new bridge. Observe the alignment of the roundabout at the bottom of the new bridge and the access road to the left going toward North Post Road.

It is incontrovertable that half to two-thirds of the roundabout could have been completed along with access to North Post Road before closure of the old bridge. That should have been done before the old bridge was closed.

My discussions with the DOT engineers, the Project Manager in charge of the construction, and the West Windsor Township engineer reached consensus that it was possible to do this.

Why wasn't it done? I don't get good answers to that question. The Mayor's only response has been to say that my publicising the foregoing is "misleading and counterproductive." See Mayor Hsueh's July 16, 2008 memo by clicking here.

The email from the Project Manager attached to Mayor Hsueh's letter says that this "is a unique project that balances an aggressive construction approach with a very limited budget." [Emphasis in the original.] Those apparently are the reasons -- they didn't want to take the risk of delaying the project and incurring the costs associated with keeping one of the bridges open throughout the project.

For what it is worth, with proper management, the approach outlined above would not have caused any delays in the project and would not have imposed additional costs.

The Project Manager also states: "During the last phase of construction a detour is unfortunately unavoidable, but necessary to tie the existing roads to the newly constructed roads." That statement is correct, but only for the very short period of time (a day or two at most) that would have been true under the approach that I have suggested.

Given the critical importance of this connection for public safety (fire trucks, ambulances, police), especially during the rush hour, it should have been done.

I have been asking for this for a long time and have been ignored. As a mere Member of Council with no executive power or authority, I have had to depend on the Administration to work with me to make this happen.

I am disappointed that it did not happen, I am disappointed that the Mayor would try to defend his inaction through his mischaracterization of my efforts, and I hope that the proposed 90-day closure will end without incident.