BAYONNE AND BEYOND – Raising the Bayonne Bridge to accommodate the expected traffic in larger shipping and assure the future vitality of the Newark Bay port area got a $1 billion boost today, thanks to a deal brokered by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Trustees for the Port Authority traded agreements to help fund reconstruction of the World Trade Center towers in exchange for a commitment to rehabilitate or rebuild the bridge.
Gov. Christopher Christie had threatened to veto the World Trade Center project if the PA did not approve funding for the Bayonne Bridge as well
Bayonne Bridge construction is facing a tight deadline, since new large container port ships are expected to begin passing through the reconstructed Panama Canal starting in 2015. These ships cannot fit under the bridge as it currently stands.
In 2009, the Army Corp of Engineers issued a report saying that the bridge needs to be raised by about 60 feet to a height of about 215 feet.
The problem with raising the bridge, however, is that it would require access ramps in Bayonne and Staten Island to be expanded as well, threatening to wipe out whole blocks of residential housing.
Port Authority to fund raising of Bayonne Bridge
