A section of I-78 in central Jersey brought a fifth question from a driver, asking when the pavement will be replaced, after work stopped.
Drivers who use a pesky, pot marked section of Route 78 can't seem to get a break, or at least, some smooth pavement to drive over.
A section of the highway in Union and Somerset counties, which has been the subject of four previous questions from readers, is back for another inquiry about why the promised new pavement hasn't been laid.
Q: "Why have they canceled Route 78 resurfacing on the eastbound side? It was way worse than westbound."
A: The issue involves what should have been a routine repaving of a section of Route 78 between Route 24 and Exit 40.
Readers first asked about it in Sept. 2015 and the state Department of Transportation had good news for them. A section of Route 78 east, from Drift Road in Watchung to Stuyvesant Avenue in Union, and on 78 west from the vicinity of where Route 24 starts in Springfield to Stuyvesant Avenue were scheduled to be repaved.
Since then, the repaving was bumped to 2016, and a partial section of 78 west was paved in February, only to be sidelined by cold weather. In May, a different driver asked when paving would resume, which finally began this summer.
But the sweet smell of hot, freshly paved asphalt wasn't around for long. A reader reported that the westbound side of this highway was paved, but the eastbound side hasn't been, and that the contractor has packed up their equipment and left.
Industry says shut down could balloon road project costs
Unfortunately, the eastbound paving is on indefinite hold because of Gov. Chris Christie's order shutting down non-essential construction projects that are funded by the state Transportation Trust Fund. That shutdown has entered a sixth week.
"The I-78 resurfacing project from mile marker 48.7 to 52.6 in Watchung is one of the projects affected by the shutdown," said Stephen Schapiro, an NJDOT spokesman. "There has been no work on this project since July 8."
Until a new source of revenue for the trust fund is agreed on by Christie and Democratic lawmakers in the legislature, work will remain halted.
This isn't the first trust fund topic we've tackled. Others included questions about what the money is spent on and why it costs so much to reconstruct roads and bridges in New Jersey. What's your question?
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.