On the last weekend of September, the Jersey Girl could not get to sea. The 120-foot whale-watching boat run by Bill McKim of Jersey Shore Whale Watch was tied up on the Shark River behind the Route 71 drawbridge. NJ101.5 reported that passengers with booked trips were stranded. McKim told the station that the closure hit the fishing fleet just as striped bass and sea bass seasons opened, and that boats trapped behind the bridge lost business to marinas that were not.
During the nor'easter, floodwater got into the bridge's mechanical and electrical room. NJDOT's September 29 release said crews were pumping out the water and drying parts that had sat in salt water. The timing stung. That room had just been through a long rebuild that finished in March. Over the past two and a half years, NJDOT has replaced the bridge's moving parts one leaf at a time to keep a 1932 crossing working until a new bridge can be built. The September storm showed that the new machinery is still in a room the river can reach.
One Leaf, Then the Other
The Main Street bridge is a two-leaf drawbridge, and since 2024 each leaf has failed in turn and been rebuilt. Here is the record from NJDOT's releases and local coverage:
- March 1, 2024. The north leaf's machinery failed. Cars could still cross at first, but the bridge could not open, so boats that needed it raised were stuck.
- March 12 to May 31, 2024. NJDOT locked the bridge in the open position and crews worked multiple shifts, seven days a week. The bridge reopened to vehicles and pedestrians at 4 p.m. on May 31. The north leaf got a hydraulic piston system in place of mechanical parts that are no longer made.
- June 13, 2025. The south leaf failed and the bridge closed to vehicles. Interim repairs let it reopen on August 7.
- October 14, 2025 to March 20, 2026. Main Street closed again so the south leaf could get the same hydraulic conversion. NJDOT first estimated the work would run until late February. TAPinto reported that it reopened at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 20, after crews also reinforced steel on both leaves.
- September 27 to October 1, 2026. Floodwater in the mechanical and electrical room closed the bridge to boats. It reopened to all marine traffic at 11:30 a.m. on October 1 after testing.
Add up the three times the bridge was locked open, and Main Street was closed to cars between Avon and Belmar for about 290 days between March 2024 and March 2026. That is close to ten months of detours out of twenty-five.
Six Months on New Hydraulics
The 2026 outage looked different from the earlier ones. In 2024 and 2025, the road closed and boats kept moving. This time the bridge was stuck down, so the road stayed open and the river was blocked. NJDOT said the bridge has 8 feet of clearance above mean high water when closed, and only vessels that fit under it could pass. The Asbury Park Press covered the flood damage as it happened.
The problem showed up on Avon's agenda right away. At the September 28 Board of Commissioners meeting, Mayor Bonanno said the bridge had to stay in the closed position and boats could not leave the marina, affecting boaters in Belmar, Avon and Neptune/Neptune City.
The geography explains why. The Belmar Manutti Municipal Marina's navigation guide puts that marina west of the Route 71 drawbridge. A boat heading out passes the Route 35 bridge, the NJ Transit railroad bridge, Route 71 and the Ocean Avenue bridge on its way to the inlet. Avon rents its own boat slips through the borough's marina program, and the mayor's comment put Avon boats among those stuck.
Why the Boats Get the Bridge First
Each of the earlier fixes closed the road and kept the river open, and that choice was not NJDOT's to make. Its October 2025 release said the department is legally required to let marine traffic pass because boats have the right of way. So when a leaf breaks, the bridge goes up and stays up, and drivers take the detour.
Normal operation follows federal rules. Under 33 CFR 117.751, the Route 71 bridge and the railroad bridge just upstream operate together, and whichever operator a vessel reaches first coordinates the other opening. The schedule reads:
The draws shall open on signal; except that, from May 15 through September 30 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday except Federal holidays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, the draw need be opened only on the hour and half hour if a vessel is waiting to pass.
That means the summer half-hour schedule ended on September 30, and the bridge now opens on signal for the rest of the off-season. The same section requires painted clearance gauges on the bridges so captains can read the height under the closed draw at any tide. The Ocean Avenue drawbridge closer to the inlet is a separate bridge owned by Monmouth County. Route 35 is fixed, with 50 feet of clearance. This is a summary for general information. Boaters should check the current regulation and Coast Guard notices before relying on it.
The Detour Avon Already Knows
When Main Street closed in October 2025, NJDOT posted signed detours over Route 35.
Belmar to Avon: Turn left from Route 71 onto Eighth Avenue, right onto Route 35, cross the Route 35 bridge and follow signs for Avon-by-the-Sea.
Avon to Belmar: Turn right from Route 71 onto Sylvania Avenue, take the ramp to Route 35 South, cross into Belmar, then turn left onto Eighth Avenue back to Main Street.
People on foot or bike had a free shuttle. It was a 20-seat, ADA-accessible bus with bike racks, running every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a 30- to 35-minute loop from the Belmar Train Station. It made four stops in Avon: Main Street at Sylvania Avenue, Main Street at Washington Avenue, Jefferson Avenue at Main Street, and Main Street at Garfield Avenue.
TAPinto's reopening story described the effect on both towns: longer commutes, more traffic on side roads, and fewer customers crossing between Belmar and Avon. Business owners pointed to the closures as one reason for slower sales. This was the setup for the longest road closure in the bridge's recent history, and the bridge still has years of service ahead before its replacement.
A Bridge Being Repaired to Reach Its Replacement
None of these repairs is meant to be permanent. NJDOT's capital program for fiscal years 2026 through 2035 lists the Route 71 bridge over the Shark River for replacement. It describes the bridge as a moveable span built in 1932 and modified in 1991. The budget sets aside $11 million for design, $100,000 for right-of-way and $103.5 million for construction. The program's schedule anticipated authorizing final design in March 2026 and right-of-way in December 2026. NJDOT's most recent public timeline has construction starting in 2028 and finishing in 2031.
The design has history behind it. At a June 2018 public information session, TAPinto reported, NJDOT presented an "in-kind" low-level drawbridge about 21 feet tall, set roughly three feet west of the current bridge, after dropping an earlier proposal for a larger fixed bridge. That 2018 concept would have built the new bridge in two halves while the old one kept carrying one lane each way. Those were the drawings as of 2018. Final design will settle the details.
Until then, the 1932 bridge keeps carrying Main Street on two rebuilt leaves, with reinforced steel and hydraulic pistons. After the September storm, it also has a mechanical room that has dried out from salt water once and been tested again. The last long closure ran on a clear pattern: the river stayed open, drivers used Route 35, and Sylvania Avenue became the way to Belmar.
Crossing questions come up every time a house near the river changes hands, whether it's the trip to the train in Belmar, a boat slip, or which way a street empties out during a closure. Our family-led Manasquan office has worked the Jersey Shore for more than 40 years. If you want to talk through how the Main Street crossing fits into life on your block, Shire Realty is happy to help. Speak with a Jersey Shore real estate expert.
