Road pavement project underway on I-195 at the Jersey Shore

The journey to a safer and smoother ride along I-195 in Ocean and Monmouth Counties is underway.

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The $8.2-million dollar federally funded project is taking place eastbound and westbound along an 11 mile stretch between CR-526/Trenton-Lakewood Road in Millstone which is just west of Exit 16 in Jackson and going up to Exit 28 which is the exit for Route 9 in Howell.

New Jersey Department of Transportation Spokesman Steve Schapiro tells Townsquare Media News that most of the work will take place overnight throughout the duration of the project but there will be some shoulder closures early on during the day time hours to make repairs to inlets.

"While we're doing that daytime work, which will take place in the shoulder typically between 7 am and 4 pm, motorists can expect to see dump trucks and cones for just a small portion of the area as crews work on specific areas," Schapiro said. "Once the drainage repairs are done on the main line, crews will move onto the ramps making the drainage repairs."

That work, Schapiro said, will take place at night and overnight as they move towards the actual paving portion of the project at some point this summer.

"That work will only take place Monday thru Thursday nights between 9 pm and 6 am," Schapiro said.

He said they try and avoid working during peak travel times which is why most of it takes place at night and overnight.

The project itself will be finished in phases before final touches are completed.

"The drainage repairs on the shoulders will probably take several weeks or months, preparing the roadway will also take some time maybe a month or two and then we'll start the paving sometime in the summer and go through fall and then come back next year and complete any paving on the main line and work on the ramps," Schapiro said. "The entire project should be complete by the fall of 2022."

As the project moves along and when it is complete, your ride to and from wherever you need to be will be a little vehicle friendly.

"This project will extend the pavement life and also improve safety and enhance the ride quality for motorists so it should be a smoother ride as well as a safer ride," Schapiro said. "We'll be applying an ultra thin friction course on the main line and that just helps improve safety and keeping vehicles from slipping on the roadway."

Whether it's now, weeks from now or months from now, if you see crews out there working, move over a lane.

"When motorists see work taking place, if you're able to move over please do so, so if we have our workers in the shoulder and you're in the right lane, if you could move over to the left lane safely please do so to give them room to work," Schapiro said. "It's so important for our guys to be able to work in a safe environment."

For overnight paving, Schapiro said you can expect a one-lane closure.

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