Elevated Bayonne Bridge roadway opens to traffic

Bayonne, N.J. — The Bayonne Bridge’s new elevated roadway opened to drivers Feb. 20, ushering in a new era for the 85-year-old arch bridge that will now become the Port Authority’s first all-cashless tolling facility.

A time-lapse video and onsite camera feeds show construction of the elevated roadway:

https://youtu.be/wRHbrQeEz2Q

The new roadway is 215 feet above the Kill van Kull and 64 feet above the original bridge deck. It is part of the Port Authority’s “Raise the Roadway” initiative to provide navigational clearance for the larger container vessels now using the expanded Panama Canal that are expected to arrive at all agency port facilities later this year.

The project represents a unique engineering achievement, during which the new roadway was built while the existing roadway remained in service with limited disruption to traffic.

The existing toll plaza will be taken out of service and replaced with an overhead gantry, mounted with electronic toll collection equipment. Drivers will no longer slow down or stop at a toll booth, and will benefit from being able to continue driving through the crossing at the posted speed limit.

“On February 20, we will make history,’’ said Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s chief of major capital projects. “The Bayonne Bridge, a marvel of 20th century engineering, will become a groundbreaking innovation of the 21st century.’’

At first, the new Bayonne Bridge roadway will continue to accommodate one lane of traffic in each direction. The new roadway will reach its full width – four 12-foot lanes plus inner and outer shoulders, a median barrier and a 10-foot shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians – by 2019.

The Bayonne Bridge “Raise the Roadway” project will enable today’s larger, more efficient and more environmentally beneficial container ships to pass beneath the Bayonne Bridge when traveling to Port Newark/Elizabeth and Howland Hook. The project is under construction by the joint venture of Skanska/Koch/Kiewit Infrastructure Co. (JV).