NJ DOT: Meadowlands Construction Project Will Not Be Complete Before MetLife Stadium Hosts 2014 Super Bowl
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - The 2012-2013 football season has only just kicked off, but New Jersey transportation officials said a highway construction project near the Meadowlands will not be finished in time for Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
The project to replace the Route 3 bridge over Lyndhurt and Rutherford has been going on for two years but has been set back and is now not expected to be complete until Spring 2014. MetLife Stadium will host the big game on February 2, 2014.
WCBS 880's Levon Putney reports
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"But we will have the normal complement of three travel lanes in each direction on Route 3 during the Super Bowl," New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Dee told WCBS 880's Levon Putney. "So there won't be any impact on traffic at all."
A contractor working on the project told the Bergen Record the project could be sped up if they were paid an additional $10 million.
"There's no need to accelerate this project...so there's no need to spend state taxpayers' dollars on a project just to accelerate it by a few months," Dee said. "We will be having all three travel lanes available to visitors and residents during the Super Bowl."
MetLife Stadium will also host WrestleMania in April 2013.
Do you think the state should do whatever it takes to have the project complete before the 2014 Super Bowl, or do you think three lanes plus public transportation is enough? Sound off below.
