The new rules, effective March 14, allow the bridge to remain closed between 5 and 10 a.m., and 3 and 8 p.m., according to U.S. Sen Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who announced the changes at a press conference in Secaucus last week, Bloomberg reports.
Menendez, other elected officials, and the main rail users of the bridge had requested the change in response to delays caused by failures with the mechanism of the 111-year-old bridge over the Hackensack River [see “New Jersey officials ask Coast Guard for relief from rail bridge problems,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 5, 2018, and “Amtrak, NJ Transit ask for limits on Portal Bridge opening,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 12, 2018]. The bridge sometimes is unable to lock back into place after being opened.
In one of the most recent major issues involving the bridge, trains were unable to cross for about 90 minutes in October 2018, reportedly delaying 164 trains and about 80,000 passengers.
A replacement for the bridge has been designed, but full funding has not yet been identified for the estimated $1.5 billion project.
Erich Guenther : I’m unclear of your point. Do you actually believe the rights of a single pleasure boater to travel at their leisure is a higher priority than rush hour on one of the busiest passenger mainlines in the world? SIMPLE ANSWER: Want to sail on your own schedule – get a lower boat.
Charles, ocean freighters do not enter this area. mainly tugs and barges.
Since the engineering work is done, why don’t they get started on the project in areas that will not effect the existing tracks. NJ & NY have some money now.
Charles Izzo – Your post that blue water ships are 200 or more feet high is correct. I looked up the Verrazano Bridge. It’s clearance is 228 feet above high water. Here in the Great Lakes (above the Welland Canal) it’s onlysomething like 135 feet.
I think a fixed span for Ocean freighters would be at least 200 feet high. I would like to see the design that gets a train up there.
Although masted traffic on the Chicago River is almost non-existent now, the Coast Guard has allowed closed hours, generally during rush hours, on movable bridges in the Loop area for decades. Even if Portal bridge was in perfect mechanical condition, the proposed restrictions would still be reasonable.
New bridge would be a higher fixed span.
Classic NE politico response. C’mon fix the damn bridge, don’t force your own lack of budget intelligence onto pleasure boaters. Hopefully the new bridge will be engineered at a high enough elevation that it won’t have to open as much.