Key milestone reached for new Portal North Bridge
KEARNY, N.J. - The first of three arches for the Portal North Bridge arrived at the construction site in Kearny Tuesday.
The new span will replace the the existing 114-year-old Portal Bridge, which opens for river traffic and often has mechanical issues.
New Jersey Transit President Kevin Corbett says it's a major milestone in the project.
"It's a several mile long stretch which will be the first segment of what we need to do to totally rehab the Northeast Corridor," Corbett said.
If you've taken the train across the Hackensack River into Manhattan, chances are you've been delayed by problems at the Portal Bridge.
"An important milestone"
The new bridge runs alongside the current swing bridge it will replace. Amtrak executives say replacing the bridge will improve reliability for Amtrak passengers and New Jersey Transit riders.
Officials say the new bridge is higher, and will not have to open and close.
"Because it's 50 feet over the water, it will not need to be opened. So it will be fixed. So all those issues related to opening and closing the bridge and the unreliability of that will go away," Amtrak vice president Jaidev Sankar said.
The new bridge is part of the broader Gateway Program that will eventually double rail capacity between Newark and New York. In about a decade, there are plans to add a new, twin bridge next to it.
"And when the new tunnel's open, you'll have four tracks all the way into New York with modern signals," Corbett said.
"Today marks an important milestone for the Gateway Program with the arrival of a new arch that will help replace the century old Portal North Bridge," Governor Phil Murphy said. "Together, we are transforming the Portal North Bridge into an access point that will provide our rail passengers with a more reliable commute, and our entire region with economic opportunity. We are now proudly one step closer to rebuilding our regional infrastructure and assuring that the most important public works project in America continues to move forward."
"For hundreds of thousands of New Jersey's daily rail commuters, travel has been dictated by the limitations of aging infrastructure. However, the arrival of one of the Portal North Bridge's three arches marks a significant step toward upgrading this vital section of the Northeast Corridor," Senator Cory Booker said. "This capital project is further proof of the material improvements we're able to achieve through coordinated, sustained efforts. Over the last ten years, my colleagues and I have secured nearly $1 billion in federal funding to strengthen this critical railway, the first major project under construction in the Gateway Program, making it safer and more reliable. I look forward to the continued progress of ongoing infrastructure upgrades across New Jersey."
As the Acelas race up the East Coast, transit officials are touting this project as on time and on budget, at least for now. The hope is the new bridge is structurally complete by February, 2025, with trains rolling over the new bridge by the spring of 2026.
Once the new bridge is open, the plan is to tear down the old Portal Bridge in 2027.