Closures begin on Route 495 bridge into NYC

A portion of two lanes shut down Friday night on the Route 495 bridge that goes into Manhattan.
The 31st Street ramp was shut down last week, but the lanes that closed Friday at 9 p.m. will remain closed for 2.5 years.
One lane will be shut down in both directions so if commuters using the turnpike to get to the Lincoln Tunnel and New York City should be prepared for delays.
Gov. Phil Murphy calls the Route 495 Infrastructure Rehabilitation project "the very definition of good news and bad news."
"The good news is that we are making the bridge safer, strong and a more reliable way to commute," Murphy says. "The bad news is it will take a long time and inconvenience a great many people."
Officials say the Route 495 bridge is "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete" over routes 1 and 9. Decking will be replaced but steel, which has some holes in its sides, will be replaced.
There will also be an exclusive bus lane for commuters between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Nearly 150,000 commuters take that route every day. Murphy is urging those people to carpool, use mass transit, take the ferry or Hudson Bergen Light rail.
Officials say they need to repair the 80-year-old span.