It was built in 1928, a piece of architectural genius at the time. The Pershing Road bridge, which has enabled motorists and pedestrians to gain access to the waterfront from upper Weehawken for many years, was a structural fortress, one of the first to use iron and steel as its base when built some 70 years ago.
However, after it was built, apparently no one wanted to lay claim to who was actually responsible for its maintenance.
"No one took responsibility," said Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz. "The state, the county, local. No one knew who was responsible for it."
However, last year, the state Department of Transportation inspected the bridge and decided it was structurally unsafe, especially for vehicular traffic.
"If the bridge wasn’t going to be repaired, then it was going to have to be closed," Welz said.
The problem remained. How could a bridge be repaired if no one actually had responsibility for it?
Enter NJ Transit and 21st Century Rail, which is currently bringing the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system into Weehawken. The area needs reconfiguration, like putting an additional rail line to the existing former Conrail line that will also be used.
With the work proposed to take place at the site, it made perfect sense that the Light Rail construction could include the improvements to the Pershing Road bridge.
"The bridge was going to have to be rebuilt anyway to bring the Light Rail in," Welz said.
Welz said that there were several months of negotiations between the township, NJ Transit and 21st Century Rail, the company that is building the system, regarding the Pershing Road bridge.
"We tried to convince them that they would be able to receive federal funding to make the necessary repairs," Welz said. "So, after six months, they decided to completely tear down the bridge and rebuild it."
Beginning August 1, the bridge will be totally closed to vehicular traffic. There will still be pedestrian access, thanks to a temporary bridge that was built to allow commuters the opportunity to get to and from the NY Waterway ferry terminal.
"We had to deal with several issues," Welz said. "Because Pershing Road is one of the three main access roads to the waterfront, we had to worry about safety and available access."
NJ Transit and 21st Century Rail have agreed to provide additional police and fire coverage during the construction, which should take about six months.
"They will reimburse the town for any additional service that is needed during the construction," Welz said. "During the closure, everything we have will be maintained, except direct access by car from Pershing Road. There will be appropriate detours on both ends of the road."
Welz believes that the closure will not lead to any traffic nightmares, because Pershing Road has not been a heavily utilized vehicular passage anyway.
"The closure will have minimal impact on traffic," Welz said. "It’s utilized more by pedestrians. It’s the least used of the three venues of getting to the waterfront. Even if there wasn’t Light Rail coming in, it had to close. Fortunately, the timing of this report from the DOT was perfect, because we’re going to be able to get the bridge and the road completed as part of the Light Rail construction."
In the meantime, both motorists and pedestrians alike should be made aware of the closure.
"We don’t anticipate many problems," Welz said. "But it’s important to know what’s going on."