Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Tags
Port Authority wants to give larger ships access to Newark Bay ports
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The Bayonne Bridge will have its roadway raised 64 feet to 215 feet above the water to enable larger ships to enter the Newark and Elizabeth container port complex, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Wednesday.
The decision was quickly praised by the New Jersey AFL-CIO which said that according to 2009 statistics from the New York Shipping Association a minimum, 31,000 jobs and $4.4 billion in annual economic output would be lost if the bridge over Newark Bay was not heightened.
Raising the roadway is the most cost effective and least disruptive option, Port Authority officials said. Port Authority commissioners committed in June to announcing a preferred alternative by the end of the year.
"This is an important next step to developing a cost-effective solution to address the Bayonne Bridge navigational issues," Port Authority Director Chris Ward said.
The Port Authority wants the bridge heightened in time for the increase in containership traffic expected on the East Coast after the Panama Canal is widened by 2014.
In September, the commissioners authorized spending up to $1 billion to raise the span. Tearing it down and reconstructing the bridge would have cost $2 billion. The project will involve reconstruction of the existing approaches, ramps and main roadway.
"Our ports are one of the strongest economic engines for the state and the region, and we are proud to see the Port Authority today take one more step forward in ensuring the next generation of large cargo ships has access to these ports and that the height of the Bayonne Bridge will soon no longer be an impediment," New Jersey AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said.
Wowkanech said raising the bridge will save a significant number of port jobs in the areas of warehousing, trucking and transportation, and for longshoremen, among others. Furthermore, he said, a significant number of construction jobs will be created.
"Job creation is our number one priority, and this project is a win-win for both economic development and job creation and preservation," Wowkanech added. "Modernizing the Bayonne Bridge is one of the most important infrastructure projects currently pending..."
