Kevin O’Leary, mayor of Lafayette Township, told the Sussex County commissioners on June 25 that the New Jersey Department of Transportation plans to start preconstruction work on the Lafayette Pond bridge replacement project and that he expects substantial traffic impacts during construction.

O’Leary said the contract for the project was officially awarded June 10 and that a preconstruction meeting was expected to take place on or about July 1. He described a staging plan in which a temporary bridge would be installed on one side of Route 15 so crews can work on the other side; he said the staged work will require single‑lane traffic operations for approximately 25 days for each side and that the full replacement project would take an estimated 18 to 24 months.

The mayor urged county planning staff, county emergency services and the sheriff’s office to participate in preconstruction meetings and coordinate signage, traffic control and emergency access, and he named the contractor expected to perform the work as Colinelli Brothers. He asked the county to help ensure affected municipalities such as Frankford and Sparta are notified and included in planning discussions.

The county did not take formal action at the meeting; O’Leary said he would seek to keep county staff apprised of the preconstruction schedule and mitigation measures.