Port Authority reportedly promises to spend at least a billion dollars to fix Bayonne Bridge
The Port Authority is ready to spend at least $1 billion to fix the Bayonne Bridge's height problem, according to today's Jersey Journal. NorthJersey.com reported that New Jersey representatives on the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners struck a deal with their counterparts on the board representing New York to provide funding for landlord Larry Silverstein's project to build towers...
Bayonne BridgeThe Port Authority is ready to spend at least $1 billion to fix the Bayonne Bridge's height problem, according to today's Jersey Journal.
NorthJersey.com reported that New Jersey representatives on the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners struck a deal with their counterparts on the board representing New York to provide funding for landlord Larry Silverstein's project to build towers at the World Trade Center site in exchange for a commitment to fund a solution to the Bayonne Bridge's height problem.
The bridge rises between 151 and 156 feet above sea level depending on the tides - far too low for larger ships to reach Ports Elizabeth and Newark once the Panama Canal is widened in 2014.
Last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers looked at various options to solve the height problem, including building a new bridge and digging a road tunnel under the Kill Van Kull.
The report concluded that jacking up the bridge to 215 feet above sea level would be the most cost effective and practical solution.
The Port Authority has commissioned its own report on how to deal with the dilemma but the results of that report have not been publicly released.
Yesterday's report said that Garden State board members struck a deal before the commissioners met yesterday to support $1 billion in public financing and subsidies for Silverstein's office towers at the World Trade Center site if the Empire State commissioners agreed to kick in $1 billion for the bridge.
For the full story, read today's Jersey Journal.
