N.J., NY officials put pressure on Port Authority to come up with a solution soon
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
This is a rendering of the Bayonne Bridge that is one of 3 options. In this rendering the original arch of the bridge remains while the roadway is moved to a cable stayed bridge that would be built right next to it.
BAYONNE — In the 2005 sci-fi film, "War of the Worlds," Tom Cruise’s character weaves through traffic in the family minivan to escape an alien attack, as the Bayonne Bridge is obliterated in the background.
If only it were that easy.
The Bayonne Bridge crisis is fairly well known by now: the structure’s 151-foot clearance above the surface of the Kill Van Kull will be too low to accommodate the colossal new container ships from Asia, expected to begin putting in at East Coast ports when an expansion of the Panama Canal is completed in 2015.
Now, while the bridge owner, the Port Authority, grapples with solutions such as jacking up the bridge another 65 feet or replacing it with a new span at a cost of $1.3 billion, new problems are arising - and time is wasting.Paying for a solution, it seems, could be as complicated as the engineering that has to be done. In the latest curve in a long saga, recession-related declines in Port Authority revenues have curbed the bi-state agency’s ability to finance big projects on its own, raising doubts as to where the Bayonne Bridge money might come from, and when the project will be able to move forward. For example, bridge and tunnel traffic, which generates crucial toll revenues for the agency, is now anticipated to be 6.1 percent below previously projected levels for 2010.
Declining revenue forecasts mean a corresponding drop in the total value of bonds the agency can have outstanding at one time. The situation has forced the agency to slash its current 10-year capital plan by 17 percent, or $5 billion.
Remember that the cost of not fixing the 77-year-old bridge could be thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in commerce lost to competing ports like Norfolk. Va. or Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The Bayonne money problem is similar to one the agency faces in its long-running effort to replace another Staten Island crossing, the 82-year-old Goethals Bridge, a $755 million project intended to address current and future congestion. For the Goethals project, the port agency has solicited financing proposals from private investors. Ernesto Butcher, the Port Authority’s chief operating officer, said that private financing is also a possibility for the Bayonne Bridge.
The credit crunch puts Port Authority officials in the unfamiliar position of having to rely on outside financing for the kind of large infrastructure projects it has long been able to finance on its own, through bond issues."Frustration is not part of our vocabulary," said Butcher, referring to the financing constraints. "We work with the circumstances that we face, and heretofore we’ve been able to carry out our priorities,"
The Bayonne Bridge is a top priority for Gov. Chris Christie, who asked his top appointee to the Port Authority, Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, to focus on a solution. Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor, declined to discuss funding issues. But, he called the bridge, "a priority that we intend to address."
"We understand why it is important, and why it needs attention," Drewniak said.
Rep. Albio Sires, a Democrat from Hudson County on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has met with Port Authority officials on potential federal funding for the project, said his spokeswoman, Erica Daughtrey.
Daughtrey said there are a number of potential federal funding sources for the project, including the standard appropriations process, though funding could hinge on the selection of a specific proposal.
The least expensive alternative involves jacking up the entire bridge, at a cost of $1.32 billion. It would also be the fastest option, taking nine years to complete, including planning and construction phases. Two tunnel options were also included in the Army Corps report: a $2.2 billion bored version; and a $3 billion immersed tunnel.
The most visually striking alternative is a $2.15 billion new cable stay bridge that, in a nod to local and architectural history, would leave the old arch standing right next to it, but with the deck removed. At a total length of 8,640 feet, the Bayonne Bridge was the longest steel arch bridge in the world when it opened in 1931, an elegant latticework designed by engineer Othmar Ammann and architect Cass Gilbert. It’s also a symbol of home for local residents.
"It’s part of Bayonne’s history," said Anthony George Rankin, 46, a regular at Foley’s Tavern on Kennedy Boulevard, near the bridge approach.
Rankin winced when recalling the scene in "War of the Worlds" when the bridge was blown up.
"Oh, my God, it was devastating," he said.
Meanwhile, pressure on the agency has mounted. On May 20, the state Senate adopted a resolution urging the Port Authority to come up with a plan of action.
"We stand to lose as much as $17 billion in economic activity annually if we don’t act soon," state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City), a co-sponsor of the resolution, said in a statement.
New York state lawmakers adopted a similar resolution.
Butcher, the Port Authority chief, said a $10 million follow-up study by his agency would be completed in early to mid 2011, with a recommendation for one of the alternatives laid out by the Army Corps.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
A container ship travels under the Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne.