NJ Transit helps complete long-delayed grade separation in North Bergen

New Jersey Gov. Murphy and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco late last week announced the long-delayed 69th Street Bridge project in the town of North Bergen finally has been completed after a more than six-year delay.

The $62 million project involved a grade separation at 69th Street over the North Bergen rail yard. The new bridge eliminated a grade crossing of CSX and New York Susquehanna and Western Railway Co. (NYSW) lines, and New Jersey Transit's Hudson Bergen light-rail line. The freight-rail corridor in the area includes five CSX-owned tracks and one NYSW-owned track.

The project also included improvements to roadways and area storm water drainage systems.

The grade separation was stalled for years in the prior state administration, project organizers say. Last year, NJ Transit opted to terminate the contract of the previous construction firm and hired CJ Hesse Inc. to complete the work. NJ Transit worked with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and other partners to revive the project.

Now, the bridge is helping to improve traffic flow in the heavily-congested area, project organizers say.

"As part of our effort to restore NJ Transit to a national role model, we have been taking steps to right the ship in a number of different areas, including a renewed focus on the stalled projects left languishing from the previous administration," said NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett in a press release. "The completion of this bridge project plays a critical safety role in separating vehicles from the freight trains in North Bergen."