Why did the salamander cross the road? In East Brunswick, it has to do with their annual migration journey to local breeding grounds.

Over the next several weeks, East Brunswick police will close Beekman Road during the overnight hours between Church Lane in East Brunswick and Davidsons Mill Road in South Brunswick to allow for a safe salamander crossing. The crossing was expected to begin Thursday night.

"The salamanders cross the road because they live in the woods on one side of the road and move to a breeding pond on the opposite side of the road. Once the salamanders are done laying eggs, they will sporadically cross the road back to the woods over the course of a month," the East Brunswick Police Department said in a social media post.

According to the New Jersey Department of environmental Protection, when it's not breeding season, some salamanders occupy underground tunnels and burrows, or they find shelter beneath logs and piles of leaves.

The migration usually happens on warm, rainy nights. It can begin anytime in late winter or early spring, police said.

East Brunswick police will have the road closed from about 6 p.m. until 5 a.m. The closures "will take place sporadically over the next several weeks and is based on weather conditions that will result in the likely movement of salamanders to vernal pools," police said.

Authorities are asking drivers to slow down and proceed with caution when in the area. Alternate routes during the closures will include Cranbury Road or Fresh Ponds Road.