Aging Pulaski Skyway to be closed for 2 years
NEWARK (WABC) -- Drivers who use the Pulaski Skyway are being urged to make alternate plans ahead of the two-year closure of the northbound lanes set to begin Saturday.
The Skyway, which carries an estimated 40,000 commuters each day toward Jersey City and the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan - 74,000 vehicles total both ways - needs $1 billion in repairs to what engineers say is a decrepit, crumbling structure.
Transportation Commissioner James Simpson says the shutdown is going to have a ripple effect on the region, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop says that it is highly likely he will declare a state of emergency for the start of the project.
"Commuters beware," said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson. "Despite our best efforts to expand roadway capacity during the closure, it is impossible to squeeze the 40,000 vehicles that travel northbound on the Skyway every day...onto already congested alternate routes."
Fulop believes the declaration will allow him greater flexibility to deal with lane closures, and he will be able to deploy police officers as necessary and even change traffic signals and patterns without getting prior approval from the City Council.
The 3.5-mile steel truss bridge, opened in 1932, is an iconic New Jersey symbol, featured in Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast War of the Worlds, and in the opening credits of the television series The Sopranos.
Simpson said that while the Pulaski was sound, it had been "structurally deficit" for 35 years, and received a worse inspection rating than the I-35 bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007, killing 13 people. He says they can no longer waste time putting a Band-Aid over areas of the bridge that desperately need repairs.
"If we don't do this now, we literally might wake up one morning and find ourselves facing an emergency closure of the entire bridge," Simpson said. "Simply put, we're out of time...In report-card terms, as the engineers like to say sometimes, this bridge is a D-minus and about to become an F."
Commuters are urged to consider carpooling or not driving at all, with officials reiterating that the PATH system would be running more frequently from Newark in the mornings and New Jersey Transit would be running additional trains or adding seating capacity on its Morris & Essex, Raritan Valley and North Jersey Coast lines and is adding new express bus service along Route 22 from Watchung to Newark Penn Station.
New service would be added on the Seastreak ferry from Atlantic Highlands to Paulus Hook in Jersey City and Hoboken Terminal at a cost of $12 each way. And Suburban Transit, a private bus carrier, will have a new service, at a cost of $2, from a free park-and-ride lot near Newark Liberty International Airport west of Route 1&9 and south of 1-78 in Newark.
Other alternatives for commuters from the NJDOT:
New Jersey Turnpike Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension
(I-78) eastbound shoulder will be converted into a third travel lane during morning and evening peak travel periods.
Route 1/9 T: Traffic signal technology and ramp improvements will help accommodate additional traffic heading toward Jersey City and New York City.
Variable Message Signs: Signs will provide information along the routes. Some will allow motorists to compare trip times and help them choose the quickest route.
CLICK HERE for more information and detours during the Pulaski closure.
