Press Release Article

PORT AUTHORITY TO RESUME MAJOR PROJECT TO REHABILITATE 73-YEAR-OLD OUTERBRIDGE CROSSING

Date: Mar 07, 2002
Press Release Number: 15-2002

Project Requires Nightly Shutdowns of Eastbound Lanes Beginning March 18

In a move to accelerate completion of a major project to rehabilitate the 73-year-old Outerbridge Crossing, the Port Authority will shut the bridge’s eastbound lanes each night beginning March 18 until the late fall.

During the closing, eastbound traffic will be diverted to the Goethals Bridge. In the previous two years, the westbound lanes were closed each night.

\"This shift in our plans will help us make up for some of the time lost due to operational impacts related to the World Trade Center tragedy,\" said Ken Philmus, the Port Authority’s Director of Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals. \"It will allow us to complete the Outerbridge project sooner and then shift our resources more quickly to the Goethals Bridge, which is in dire need of repairs. Since the Outerbridge closures will be in the New York bound direction, there will be less impact on motorists traveling to the Jersey Shore this summer.\"

Following is the schedule of hours when all eastbound lanes of the Outerbridge Crossing will be closed:

Monday nights through Thursday nights – 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Friday nights and Saturday nights – 11:59 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Sunday nights – no lane closings.

The Outerbridge project involves repairs to 135,000 square feet of the bridge’s concrete deck, replacement of roadway joints and a new asphalt surface on the bridge deck.

The Port Authority also will begin work in late spring to replace 30 roadway joints at the Goethals Bridge, which are in need of priority repair.

To allow the work to be done, one westbound lane to New Jersey on the Goethals Bridge will be closed nightly during these times: