By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media

One of the state Department of Transportation's top highway and bridge projects could cause more than two years worth of traffic jams for drivers traveling to and from the Lincoln Tunnel.

Of two new projects, the Route 495 Corridor Bridge project starts major work in the summer and is expected to cause some traffic headaches for commuters. The other new project should end confusion for drivers who want to continue on I-95 from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

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(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Route 495 viaduct

In 2018, drivers using the Lincoln Tunnel face multiple years of hell from a bridge project that will take one lane of Route 495 out of service in each direction.

The work is part of a $90 million project to rebuild the Route 495 viaduct, which is nine separate bridges that carry traffic over Routes 1&9, two rail lines and a commuter parking lot in North Bergen. Minor work started last year, but by summer that project gets much busier and will affect commuters.

This summer, major work starts on the bridge deck, closing one lane of Route 495 in each direction. NJDOT officials warned commuters to expect “severe congestion.” Work during the winter and spring will take place under the bridge along Paterson Plank Road and Union Turnpike and isn’t expected to affect traffic on Route 495.

Route 495's Xclusive Bus Lane for commuter bus use will continue to operate in the morning during the bridge deck replacement.

The project is scheduled to last for two and a half years with a summer 2021 completion date.

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(Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

I-95 name change

A nine-mile section of what is now I-95 in New Jersey, will be renamed I-295 in early 2018 to eliminate the confusion for drivers who want to stay on I-95 in New Jersey.

The new name is because of a new interchange built between between I-276/Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bristol Township, which will create a continuous highway named I-95 from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and includes the New Jersey Turnpike's Delaware River Bridge.

For drivers, that means that seven exits in New Jersey, between the Scudder Falls Bridge over the Delaware River in Ewing and Route 1 in Lawrence, and four in Pennsylvania will be renumbered. Four other exits on I-195 in Hamilton will also be renumbered.

That work takes place in New Jersey between January and March 2018. The next two phases of the work will be done by the Delaware River Joint Bridge Commission and PennDot, starting in the spring, and are scheduled to be completed in the summer, when the I-95 interchange opens.

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(Photo Courtesy of NJDOT)

Pulaski Skyway

NJDOT officials expect work to be completed sometime in spring to reopen the 3.5-mile Pulaski Sky to two-way traffic, but drivers have seen reopening dates come and go. Construction crews dropped the last bridge deck panel in place in December and are doing finishing work, DOT officials said.

The Skyway has been closed to northbound traffic since April 2014 for the first part of a $1 billion rehabilitation project that was knocked off schedule after the discovery of deteriorated beams that support the road and a bad 2014-2015 winter.

The schedule to reopen the skyway has been pushed back three times, most recently in April 2017, when DOT officials said a planned summer 2017 reopening date would be missed because officials wanted to replace retaining walls on Route 139, which is the highway that feeds traffic to the Skyway.

Crews are building a concrete median and installing guide rails, overhead signs, lights and some concrete work. However, six other construction contracts are waiting to start that are supposed to take the project out to at least 2020.

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(Reena Rose Sibayan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com))

Route 7 WittPenn bridge

A major step toward the planned 2019 opening of a new WittPenn bridge to carry Route 7 over the Hackensack River in Jersey City is expected to happen in 2018, when a section of the bridge that lifts to allow ships to pass underneath is installed.

Drivers can see the base of the two large black bridge towers that were put in place in the fall. DOT officials expect the remaining pieces of the towers to be shipped in and installed this winter.

Plans call for the moveable bridge deck to be installed in early 2018. DOT officials cautioned that the schedule depends on weather and other conditions. It was shipped through the Panama Canal last year.

Construction of the $430 million replacement bridge began in November 2011.

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(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Route 21/I-280 interchange

Progress continues on a complicated $93 million project to rebuild a network of ramps between Route 21, I-280 and Broad Street in Newark. DOT officials said the project is on schedule for a 2019 completion. Work started in 2015.

Drivers encountered a new traffic pattern in late 2017 when lanes were shifted on a bridge that carries I-280 over Broad Street. Those changes will be in place for one year while sections of that bridge are demolished and replaced.

Drivers also saw progress when two new ramps opened in 2017 from I-280 west to Route 21 north and from Route 21 south to I-280 east. New ramps are under construction from Route 21 north and south to I-280 west and from Broad Street to I-280 east. They're scheduled to be completed in late 2018.

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(Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

I-295, I-76, and Route 42

Construction continues on two of four contracts to build the $900 million Direct Connection project that started in late 2013, to improve safety and reduce congestion where I-295, I-76, and Route 42 meet.

A new bridge and ramp from I-76 east to I-295 north opened in 2017 and the old structures are being demolished as part of Contract Two. The project generated controversy after a Revolutionary War era house was torn down in March 2017.

Ongoing work to build supports for a ramp from I-295 south to I-76 east/Route 42 south is nearing completion. That allows the construction to begin on a new I-295 bridge that will go over a ramp from I-76 east to I-295 north. This work will continue into 2018, and is expected to be completed in 2019.

Work also continues to finish the new I-295 mainline connector over I-76/Route 42. Work has started on foundations for those bridges, and to construct a temporary Browning Road Bridge to move traffic while a new one is built.

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(Photo courtesy of NJDOT)

Manahawkin Bay bridges

The series of bridges across Manahawkin Bay that are the gateway to Long Beach Island are slowly being replaced as part of a project that started in 2013.

The Old Causeway Bridge is being rehabilitated and crews are expected to do concrete work on the westbound side in spring 2018. Eastbound traffic is using a new bridge built next to the Old Causeway Bridge.

Work is also progressing on other bridges. In 2017, the south side deck of the Hillard’s Bridge was demolished and replaced. Traffic is now using the south side while the deck on the north side bridge is replaced.

That work is expected to be done in spring, which will allow two lanes of traffic in each direction to use the entire Hillard’s Bridge before the summer season starts. In late 2018, traffic will be shifted to the north side of the bridge to allow for deck joint replacement and final paving on the south side.

Full rehabilitation of both the Old Causeway Bridge and the Hillard’s Bridge is expected to be completed in 2020.

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(Tim Farrell | The Star-Ledger)

Routes 3 & 46

The $40.3 million project to straighten out the complicated junction between several local roads and Route 46 and 3 started in 2016. The DOT is building a new two-way service road, three intersections with traffic signals, and two single-lane roundabouts to take local traffic off Route 46.

A new Notch Road Bridge over Route 46 is scheduled to open in 2018, after demolition and reconstruction of the old bridge started in 2017. Progress was made building a new entrance and exit ramp to Route 46 east in Little Falls at a diner parking lot, including grading and paving of the new ramps.

In 2018, demolition and reconstruction of the Clove Road Bridge will begin and DOT officials expect it to be completed by the end of the year. Utility work continues in 2018, including installing larger water mains under the road.

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(NJ.com file photo)

I-287 & I-78

Drivers saw a new, realigned I-287 north ramp to Route 202/206 south opened In September 2017 as part of this $24.5 million project. Bridge decks and four new approach roads have been completed to a new overpass from I-78 east to I-287 north and structural work continues in 2018.

Trees have been cleared at the location of a new ramp from I-287 north to I-78 east, DOT officials said. A concrete culvert extension to the realigned ramp has been built and retaining walls are being constructed.

The project eliminates a left side entrance ramp from I-78 east to I-287 north and changes it to a right side entry. It also eliminates a traffic pattern that required drivers to weave between lanes and reduces vehicle conflicts on I-287 north between Interchanges 21A and 22A.

The project is on schedule and expected to be completed in late 2019.

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(Tiffani Garlic | For The Star-Ledger)

Route 206 bypass

Readers who've asked whether the Route 206 bypass, which re-routes the highway around the business center of Hillsborough, would ever be completed will get an answer this spring.

With one 1.7-mile segment opened to traffic in October 2013 and the preparation work for the next piece finished in 2015, DOT officials plan to award a contract to build the southern and northern ends to connect the bypass to Route 206 in early 2018, with construction scheduled to start in the spring.

Ground was broken for the bypass in 2010 and the 3.6 mille bypass is expected to be completed in 2020.

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(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Read more about DOT projects

Updates on major NJDOT highway and bridge projects

Why DOT had to tear down a historic house for the Direct Connection.

Tracking the progress of the New WittPenn bridge.

State sticks to Spring 2018 Pulaski Skyway re-opening date.