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8/2/2022
Federal and New Jersey officials gathered yesterday in Kearny to mark the official groundbreaking of the new Portal North Bridge project.
Construction of the new bridge will reduce gridlock caused by critical operation and maintenance issues of the existing 110-year-old swing bridge and improve service, reliability and capacity for rail travel along the Northeast Corridor, state officials said in a press release issued by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's office.
The bridge project is a major part of the larger Gateway Program, one of the nation's largest infrastructure projects. The program is designed to eventually double rail capacity between Newark, New Jersey, and New York.
"This project turns the Portal North Bridge from a chokepoint to an access point. It modernizes the way that people and goods get to and from this region that is responsible for 20% of America’s economic product every year," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, who attended yesterday's ceremony.
The existing bridge will be replaced with a new modern two-track, high-level, fixed-span bridge that will improve service and capacity along this section of the Northeast Corridor. The new Portal North Bridge will rise 50 feet over the Hackensack River, allowing marine traffic to pass underneath without interrupting rail traffic.
The project involves demolishing the old bridge, which has been an enduring source of major service disruptions for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak riders traveling on the Northeast Corridor.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, states of New Jersey and New York and Amtrak are paying for the project. In January 2021, Murphy announced the signing of a full-funding grant agreement that secured $766.5 million in federal dollars to support the project’s construction.