What happens next
A virtual public meeting was announced for October 26, 2026. Its presentation had not been posted as of October 29. Residents can watch the county project page and the project website for the materials, and send questions to the Somerset County Engineering Division.
The Picket Place bridge carries County Route 567 over the South Branch of the Raritan River
between Branchburg and Hillsborough. It is a 355-foot, four-span concrete bridge built in 1979.
The project website rates it “Structurally Deficient” because of its substructure and
“Functionally Obsolete” because of its deck layout. The regional plan describes large spalls with
exposed, rusted reinforcing steel.
The bridge belongs to Somerset County, which is replacing it with federal money through NJDOT’s
local aid program. Concept work, with public meetings in Branchburg and Hillsborough in 2019,
ended in summer 2020 with a Preliminary Preferred Alternative: 12-foot lanes, 8-foot
bicycle-compatible shoulders and a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side. Preliminary engineering began
in fall 2024.
The regional Transportation Improvement Program lists the project at $18.616 million: $1.9 million
for design in fiscal 2027, $50,000 for right-of-way in 2028, and $15.8 million for construction in
2030–2035, years that are planned but not yet funded. The project website says the construction cost
“is yet to be determined.” No closure or detour plan has been published.
A virtual public meeting on the status, plans and schedule was announced for October 26, 2026.
Its materials were not online as of October 29.