Bayonne Bridge Project Will Wrap Up Six Months Early

Governor Chris Christie announced the $1.6 billion raising of the Bayonne Bridge roadway will complete by June 30 – six months ahead of schedule. The raised bridge allows the world’s ultra-large, environmentally friendly container vessels to pass beneath the span, gaining access to the Ports of Newark, Elizabeth, and Staten Island.

“The ‘Raise the Roadway’ project is a true game-changer for the port, one of the state’s and this region’s most significant job creators, employing 336,000 people and generating billions of dollars in economic activity,” said Governor Christie. “With the lifting of the bridge’s navigational restrictions, we expect these numbers to continue to grow and shipping lines to begin to send their larger ships to this port. As a result more businesses will seek to locate in the port area to create jobs, especially in the skilled trades while garnering the benefits being close to the port can bring. These businesses already generate nearly $53.5 billion in economic activity.”

The Bayonne Bridge currently has a navigational clearance of 151 feet, limiting the size of the vessels that can travel under it to approximately 8,000 to 9,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent cargo size containers). The newly raised roadway will provide a clearance of 215 feet – the same as the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge – allowing ships with up to 18,000 TEUs to pass below to access terminals located in New Jersey and Staten Island. The largest ship currently able to navigate the waters below the bridge is 9,800 TEUs.

‘Raise the Roadway’ is a visionary project, accomplishing what once seemed impossible for the long-term benefit of our regional economy,” Port Authority Chairman John Degnan said. “It began with the unprecedented accomplishment of building a new roadway through an existing bridge structure, with traffic continuing to flow on a lower roadway. Removal of the lower roadway will make it one of the most important American infrastructure projects in history to facilitate global trade.

Larger ships will reduce operating costs for shipping lines, which can ultimately result in lower prices for standard consumer goods sold in the New York-New Jersey region and beyond, such as beverages, clothing, and furniture.

“Raise the Roadway,” coupled with last year’s completion of the Port Authority and federal government’s shared investment in the $2.1 billion 50-foot navigation channel deepening project, $600 million of Port Authority investment spent on on-dock rail projects and billions spent by private sector terminal operators, will allow the Port of New York and New Jersey to remain the most attractive East Coast option for shippers in transporting their cargo.