A new era for the Bayonne Bridge will begin Monday when the newly constructed elevated roadway on the 85-year-old arch bridge opens to drivers.
The new roadway, which was built 64 feet above the original bridge deck, hangs 215 feet above the Kill van Kull. The work is part of the Port Authority’s massive “Raise the Roadway” project, which will allow larger container vessels to pass under the bridge and reach local ports.
“On February 20, we will make history,” Steven Plate, the Port Authority’s chief of major capital projects, said in a statement. “The Bayonne Bridge, a marvel of 20th century engineering, will become a groundbreaking innovation of the 21st century.”
When the new roadway opens, all traffic crossing Route 440 between Bayonne and Staten Island will be directed by signs to the bridge’s new approach and over the elevated span.
Last week, the Port Authority revealed the bridge’s new cashless toll on the Staten Island side of the Kill van Kull. The toll plaza for the bridge has been replaced by an overhead gantry, mounted with electronic toll collection equipment, allowing drivers to no longer slow down or stop at a toll booth.
Toll payments will not change for drivers with E-ZPass, but for the less than 10 percent of Bayonne Bridge drivers who do not use E-ZPass, an overhead camera will photograph their vehicle’s license plate and a toll bill will be mailed to the registered owner.
The Port Authority says the new Bayonne Bridge roadway will initially accommodate one lane of traffic in each direction, but 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.
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