MIDDLETOWN — Repairs to a section of the the Garden State Parkway that was damaged last fall and an ongoing project on Interstate 78 are expected to cause delays this weekend.

The Turnpike Authority will complete repairs to the northbound overpass between exits 109 and 114 in the local lanes, which were badly damaged by a back hoe being hauled by a trailer last November on Middletown-Lincroft Road.  Two temporary steam beams were installed to shore up the road.

Weather permitting, two of the three outer lanes will be closed at 10 a.m. on Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday to install permanent beams. This will likely create "significant delays" especially during the daytime, according to Turnpike Authority spokesman Tom Feeney.

The express lanes are unaffected by the work and will remain open.

"The pieces of the bridge going in there to make the permanent repair were fabricated off site and are arriving by truck," Feeney told the Townsquare News Network.  He said the work had to wait until now to accommodate the "springish" temperatures needed for paving before the heavier shore traffic starts.

"There's a pretty limited window of opportunity to do this kind of repair," Feeney said, adding that if the work is rained out, the work would be postponed until next weekend.

Whatever weekend the work takes place, Feeney suggested using Route 18 to  get to the Turnpike to bypass the work area  or Routes 35 and 36.

The other area for weekend drivers to be wary of is another weekend of lane closures on Route 78 westbound near the toll bridge into Pennsylvania for an ongoing project by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

The closure of two lanes on the Route 78 toll bridge begins Friday night at 10 at the Carpentersville Road overpass in Pohatcong to the overpass of PA Route 611 in Williams Township. The closures end Monday morning at 7.

Long delays have developed leaving New Jersey, especially on Saturday, as crews replace deteriorating roadway slabs at the approach to the bridge.

Drivers can expect three additional weekend-long closures before the end of spring.

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