Trestle Repairs Postponed At Barnegat Branch Trail In Lacey

LACEY, NJ — The repairs to the Barnegat Branch Trail trestle scheduled for Thursday have been postponed to next week due to inclement weather from the nor'easter, according to Mike Mangum, director of Ocean County Parks and Recreation.

The bulkhead on the north side of the trestle will be replaced with a retaining wall to stabilize the bank and prevent erosion.

“There’s an old, crude one that was there prior to the County buying it that was basically made out of stacked telephone poles...Dirt leaks through between the poles,” Mangum told Patch on Thursday. “There’s gonna be some big equipment in there, so when we do start [the trestle] will be closed.”

The 150-foot long trestle was constructed in November 2019 and connects Berkeley and Lacey over Cedar Creek.

Ocean County Parks and Recreation announced Wednesday that construction on the trestle may begin Thursday "depending on the weather," referencing the nor’easter that brought heavy rain and strong winds on Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

The Waretown entrance of the Barnegat Branch Trail was closed briefly on Thursday morning to clear downed trees from the storm.

Mangum said the construction on the trestle has been delayed to next week, though the Ocean County Bridge Department has not confirmed an exact date as of Thursday. The project is estimated to take about one week to complete.

During the construction, the Barnegat Branch Trail will be closed from Serpentine Drive in Berkeley south to William Hebrew Park in Lacey. The trail access through Dudley park will also be closed.

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