Scene Around: Cutting the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge Ribbon

After more than a decade’s worth of stakeholder meetings, planning, design development, final plans and, finally, construction, the long-anticipated new Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge has been completed and opened for travel yesterday.

As design plans showed since 2013, the roughly $138 million federally-funded new bridge was built parallel to the old one so that travel could continue. And it did, but not without delays and disruptions due to construction, which started in November of 2021.

The federal funds for the project to replace the original, outdated 1950 bridge over the Shrewsbury River were secured via the Federal Highway Administration and state Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA).

Broken down, Monmouth County officials have said, costs were: about $111.5 million for construction of the bridge; $6.8 million for what was dubbed construction support services; and $10.9 million for engineering, planning and permitting.

Rumson, Sea Bright and county officials lined up to cut the ribbon Thursday morning, making the new bridge’s completion official, with it opening for traffic at 4 p.m..

The demolition of the old bridge and completion of a park on the Rumson side are next.

Here’s a glimpse into the ribbon-cutting, courtesy of the Borough of Sea Bright …