dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

member schiffs tweets caps last 3 yesterday=MTA NYNY WE with a silver bullet in last one

https://twitter.com/SenBooker/status/1231285763171667968

https://www.nj.com/traffic/2020/02/the-portal-bridge-will-no-longer-open-during-rush-hour-your-commute-is-grateful.html

read first sentance of article

The Portal Bridge will no longer open during rush hour. Your commute is grateful.

Posted Feb 19, 2020

747

By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

This could be the Wizard of Oz moment when NJ Transit and Amtrak passengers sing “Ding, dong the bridge is closed, the rusty bridge, the Portal Bridge.”

The U.S. Coast Guard took the last step needed to prohibit 110-year-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in Kearny from opening during the morning and evening rush hours by publishing that rule in the federal register Tuesday. It is the last step before the rules take effect on March 19, officials said.

This makes permanent a temporary rule that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ, ranking member of the Senate Transit subcommittee, requested in March 2019 that prohibits the bridge from opening for marine traffic between 5 and 10 a.m. and 3 and 8 p.m.

More than 450 trains a day carrying almost 200,000 passengers across the current bridge every weekday.

Menendez thanked Coast Guard officials for working with him, Gov. Phil Murphy and U.S. Senator Cory Booker on the making the temporary rule permanent.

“The final rule strikes an important balance between rail and marine traffic traveling through the area. But make no mistake, this is only a temporary fix to provide some relief to commuters,” Menendez said.

Of the three comments received by the Coast Guard about the permanent rule, one suggested permanently closing the bridge. However, officials said that isn’t an option because some marine traffic still requires the bridge to open. The last two requests to open the bridge were on Oct. 7 and Dec. 6.

The swing bridge rotates on a base in the river and is infamous for not entirely closing, delaying every commuter and Amtrak train to and from New York on the Northeast Corridor. Parts of the bridge known as miter rails sometimes fail to lock in place and workers have had to use sledgehammers to close them.

The permanent fix is building the new Portal North Bridge which, at 50 feet over the water, will be high enough so it doesn’t interfere with river traffic, Menendez said. Portal North is part of the larger Gateway Project, which also includes a Portal Bridge south, two new Hudson River rail Tunnels, an annex south of Penn Station New York and other infrastructure work.

"This is good short-term news to make a more reliable commute, but as the Coast Guard makes clear, the long-term solution is a permanent, higher 21st Century bridge that doesn't need to open and close," said Stephen Sigmund, Gateway Development Corporation spokesman.

The Portal North Bridge project finally received a higher ranking for its funding plan from the Federal Transit Administration last week, making it eligible for federal grants. Plans and the necessary environmental permits are in place to replace the bridge, which is owned by Amtrak.