Bayonne Bridge

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The Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge that spans the Kill Van Kull between Staten Island, New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, United States. It carries New York State Route 440 and New Jersey Route 440, with the two roads connecting at the state border at the river’s center. It has the sixth-longest steel arch mainspan in the world, the longest in the world at the time of its completion. The bridge is also one of four connecting New Jersey with Staten Island; the other two roadway bridges are the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth and Outerbridge Crossing (which also carries Route 440) in Perth Amboy, and the rail-only span is the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, all of which cross the Arthur Kill.

The original four-lane roadway was designed for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by Swiss master bridge-builder Othmar Ammann and architect Cass Gilbert. Completed in 1931, it included a walkway, and offered Template:Convert of vertical clearance above the water.

A Port Authority project to provide increased clearance required to accommodate New Panamax ships began in 2013, raising it approximately Template:Convert to Template:Convert by June 8, 2017. The new roadways opened on May 24, 2019, with each carrying two lanes of unidirectional motor traffic plus shoulders for disabled vehicles, in addition to a separate path for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Design

Bayonne Bridge was designed by Swiss master bridge-builder Othmar Ammann and architect Cass Gilbert. It spans the Kill Van Kull between Port Richmond in Staten Island, New York, and Bayonne in Hudson County, New Jersey.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp<ref name="ForgottenNY">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bridge was constructed at a 58-degree angle to the Kill Van Kull, parallel to the street networks of both Bayonne and Port Richmond, Staten Island, requiring a longer span than if the bridge had been built perpendicular to the straight.<ref name="NY1930">Template:Cite New York 1930</ref> The total length of the bridge is Template:Convert.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp<ref name="ForgottenNY" />

Roadbed

As built, the Bayonne Bridge contained a roadbed Template:Convert long without intermediary piers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The main span was connected to viaducts at either end.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp The Port Richmond viaduct was Template:Convert long and the Bayonne viaduct was Template:Convert long, supported by piers that ranged from Template:Convert tall.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp The bridge originally featured a mid-span clearance above the water of Template:Convert, adequate for the United States Navy's tallest ships at the time.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp<ref name="ForgottenNY" /> The roadway was Template:Convert wide.<ref name="NYYIMBY">Template:Cite news</ref>

Between 2013 and 2019, the bridge's clearance was raised approximately Template:Convert, from Template:Convert. A new roadway was constructed above the existing roadway within the current arch structure. This new clearance was to accommodate Post-Panamax ships.<ref name=":9" /><ref name="Bascome 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Arch

The Bayonne Bridge's steel parabolic arch is made up of 40 linear segments. Its lower chord rises Template:Convert above the Kill Van Kull,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while the upper is Template:Convert above the waterway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Bascome 2019" /> The arch is influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City, designed by Ammann's mentor Gustav Lindenthal.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Gilbert had specified an ornamental granite sheathing over the steelwork as part of the original proposal, but as in the case of the George Washington Bridge, the stone was eliminated in order to lower the cost of the bridge during the Great Depression.<ref name="NY1930" /><ref name="NYYIMBY" /> It was the first bridge to employ manganese steel for the main arch ribs and rivets.<ref name="ASCE">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

When completed in 1931, the Bayonne Bridge was the longest through arch bridge in the world.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It surpassed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, its more massive-arched "sister bridge" in Australia, by Template:Convert<ref name="NYYIMBY" /><ref name="ASCE" /> and took the distinction from the Hell Gate Bridge.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp The Bayonne Bridge has a lightweight design, weighing only Template:Convert, compared to the Sydney Harbour Bridge's Template:Convert. The Bayonne Bridge is also half as wide and Template:Convert longer overall than its sister bridge.<ref name="NYYIMBY" />

History

Early history and construction

Conceptualization and background

File:Under the Bayonne Bridge.jpg

The original deck of the Bayonne Bridge

In 1921, the Port of New York Authority (now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) was created to oversee transportation in the Port of New York and New Jersey.<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp At the time, bridges in New York City were being built at a brisk pace.<ref name=NYYIMBY/> The Port Authority opened its first two bridges between New Jersey and Staten Island in 1928: the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing. A third crossing was being planned between Port Richmond and Bayonne. All three bridges were built to complement the traffic from a future fourth bridge or a tunnel from Staten Island to Brooklyn.<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp Initially, the third crossing was proposed to be a tunnel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, the Port Authority ultimately decided to construct a bridge, to be designed by Ammann and Gilbert. Ammann, who was chief architect of the Port Authority, chose the steel arch design after rejecting a cantilever and suspension design as expensive and impractical for the site, given a requirement by the Port Authority that the bridge must be able to accommodate the future addition of rapid transit tracks.<ref name="RastorferBook">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="NY1930" /><ref name="ForgottenNY" />

Construction

Construction on the bridge began in 1928.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, it was supposed to be open in early 1932 and was supposed to cost $16 million (Template:Inflation),<ref name=NYYIMBY/><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> but it ended up costing only $13 million to build (Template:Inflation).<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp<ref name="NJ.com">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge had to be built without blocking shipping traffic on the Kill Van Kull. To do this, engineers used hydraulic jacks to support the two sides of the arch while the two pieces, consisting of prefabricated truss segments that were made up of high-strength alloy steel, were being built toward a point in a middle. Afterward, prefabricated pieces of the roadway's support structure were hung from cables connected to the arch.<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp

Opening and 20th century

1930s to 1960s

File:Bayonne Bridge from Nicholas Av overpass jeh.jpg

The bridge with its original deck, seen from the North Shore Branch embankment at Nicholas Avenue

The Bayonne Bridge opened on November 15, 1931, after dedication ceremonies were held the previous day.<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp<ref name="nyt-1931-11-15">Template:Cite news</ref> On opening day, about 7,000 pedestrians and 17,000 vehicles crossed the bridge.<ref name=RastorferBook/>Template:Rp The new crossing was expected to reduce Staten Islanders' average commutes by 18 to 20 minutes, reducing the need to use the Goethals Bridge or Outerbridge Crossing.<ref name=":1" /> The Bayonne Bridge's dedication ceremony was attended by David M. Dow, the Secretary for Australia in the United States, and the same pair of golden shears used to cut the ribbon was sent to Australia for the ribbon-cutting of the Sydney Harbour Bridge four months later.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp After the ceremony in Sydney, the scissor blades were separated and one was sent back to the Port Authority.<ref name="ASCE" /><ref name="nyt-1931-11-15" /> Time referred to the symmetric detail of the bridge as "impressive and haunting", while the commune of Bayonne in France sent a congratulatory telegram.<ref name="NYYIMBY" /> The American Institute for Steel Construction selected the Bayonne Bridge as the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in 1931, choosing it over the George Washington Bridge.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp The bridge was designed with space for railroad tracks, but these were never built.<ref name="PANYNJ c655"/>

Pedestrians were originally required to pay a toll. This practice was eliminated in 1940, at which point the operator booths for collecting it were demolished.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bergen Point Ferry, which paralleled the bridge, stayed in service until 1961.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="ForgottenNY" />

Between 1939 and 1942, during World War II, the space under the Bayonne Bridge's Staten Island approach became the Archer Daniels Midland Manhattan Project Storage Site, utilized for storing uranium. The material was used in the nuclear weapons developed during the Manhattan Project, and about 2,007 barrels weighing Template:Convert were stored under the bridge. Due to the long half-life and high radioactivity of unrefined uranium ore, the site became highly polluted and was later designated a federal Superfund site.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cleanup by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was scheduled for completion by the end of 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The tollbooth was re-landscaped in a beautification project conducted in 1951 by the Port Authority and the City of Bayonne. In 1956, some land under the New Jersey approach viaduct was set aside to create the Juliette Street Playground.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp A new toll plaza in Staten Island was created in 1964. Additionally, the bridge deck was widened.<ref name="PANYNJ c655">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1966, the Staten Island toll plaza was altered significantly, replacing the original toll booths with six modern toll booths along with and widening the viaduct near the toll plaza. The project also made electrical modifications and installed new lighting.<ref name="PANYNJ c655" />

1970s to 1990s

The toll plaza stopped collecting tolls from New Jersey-bound drivers in 1970, with three of the toll booths being demolished. From this point on, tolls would only be collected from vehicles entering Staten Island and leaving Bayonne.<ref name="RastorferBook" />Template:Rp To save energy during the 1973 oil crisis, the decorative lighting across the arch span was shut off temporarily that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge became a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1985.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On October 2, 1990, heavy truck traffic was temporarily banned after a crane being towed by a tugboat struck the center span.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge reopened two days later, with traffic reduced to one lane to allow the bridge to undergo emergency repairs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 12, 1991, the bridge was closed for inspection and repair after a container ships loading boom damaged five of the arches' stringer beams.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1995, a CCTV security system with 24/7 cameras were installed along the walkway to monitor and prevent self harm. Additionally. new lighting was installed on the plazas and approaches, and improvements were made to the Morningstar Road off-ramp under a separate contract.<ref name="PANYNJ c655" /> The bridge began accepting E-ZPass in June 1997, making it the first PANYNJ bridge to start accepting the system.<ref name="PANYNJ c440">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1999, the bridge was extensively rehabilitated. The roadway pavement was removed, the concrete deck, expansion joints and scuppers of both approaches were replaced, the concrete deck, joints and scuppers of the central span were repaired and a latex modified concrete pavement was laid on the roadway. The superstructure steel members and concrete piers of the entire bridge were also repaired. Later that same year, permanent maintenance and construction platforms were built beneath the roadway and the approaches to allow for easier inspection.<ref name="PANYNJ c655" />

21st century

In 2001, various improvements were made to the CCTV system, and new navigational lights and aviation lights were installed. Additionally, most of the street lamps were replaced, and the structurally deficient New Jersey abutment was extensively rehabilitated.<ref name="PANYNJ c655" />

Late 2000s and early 2010s: Plans for roadbed raising

File:Bayonne bridge sunset.jpg

The bridge seen with its original deck at sunset

In the late 2000s, the Port Authority began to plan a project to allow larger container ships to use the Kill Van Kull.<ref name="Heffernan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The expansion of the Panama Canal was announced to allow new contemporary ships coming from Asia to reach the East Coast, but the bridge was too low for these larger ships to pass under it on the way to and from Newark Bay.<ref name="jj-2009-09-28" /> Its clearance of between Template:Convert above the Kill Van Kull depending on the tide already meant that some contemporary ships, which could reach Template:Convert above the waterline, had to fold down antenna masts, take on ballast, or wait for low tide to pass through.<ref name="Heffernan" /> New, larger New Panamax ships made things worse. If the problem were not fixed, the Port of New York and New Jersey could have lost significant shipping business to other ports such as Charleston, South Carolina.<ref name="jj-2009-09-28">Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2009, the Port Authority started a planning analysis to determine how to fix the air draft problem.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Final construction in the raise the road project was completed in May 2019 with the opening of the new higher pedestrian and bicycle path.<ref name="hudsonreporter.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, the New Jersey abutment was structurally deficient, and the bridge was functionally obsolete.

The Port Authority commissioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) to conduct a study of the question, which was completed in 2009, and authorized up to $10 million for planning and engineering services to develop options to deal with the bridge's low clearance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The CoE study looked at three options for the bridge, besides the no-build option.<ref name="PANYNJ1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp The quickest option they identified, and the one ultimately chosen, was a $1.7 billion project to raise the bridge's roadway to increase its height by 40 percent, which could be accomplished by 2019 at the earliest. It would need a clearance of Template:Convert to handle the new ships. Another option presented was to build a new cable-stayed bridge, which would have cost $2.15 billion and taken until 2022.<ref name=PANYNJ1/>Template:Rp The most expensive option would be to get rid of the bridge altogether and replace it with either a bored tunnel or an immersed tunnel through which traffic would traverse under the Kill Van Kull. This option would have taken the longest, being complete in 2024 and costing $2.2 to $3 billion.<ref name=PANYNJ1/>Template:Rp In initial planning documents, a vertical-lift bridge was also considered, but this was not investigated further in the CoE study.<ref name=":9">Template:Cite news</ref>

Another study, an environmental review by the U.S. Coast Guard, was commissioned in 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The review was required because the project would take place over a navigable waterway. The study cost over $2 million, took four years, and resulted in 5,000 pages of reviews. Despite its duration and cost, which precluded the start of construction until 2013, it was one of the Coast Guard's quickest environmental reviews for such a major project.<ref name="NewYorkTimes">Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2012, the Port Authority submitted a request to the federal government for an expedited environmental review process,<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was approved in July 2012<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> even though some residents in Newark and Staten Island said they wanted the Coast Guard to conduct a full environmental review.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Placing a section of new Bayonne Br deck uncut jeh.JPG

New section in Bayonne

File:North end new SI section Bayonne Br 2015-11 jeh.JPG

New section in Port Richmond

According to the Port Authority, the "Raise the Roadway" project would have many benefits, the first being that it would allow larger, more environmentally friendly ships to pass through the port.<ref name="PANYNJ2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result of the project, the proportion of the arc above the roadway would be reduced, with only 22 cables suspending the new roadway below the arch as opposed to 30 cables holding up the old roadway.<ref name=NYYIMBY/> As for the roadway itself, the single roadway would be replaced by two new roadway decks with new supporting piers and approach roads. Route 440 would be widened from one Template:Convert roadway with no shoulders and four Template:Convert lanes, to two Template:Convert roadways with two Template:Convert lanes each, a median divider, and Template:Convert shoulders.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> There would also be a bikeway and walkway the entire length of the bridge, with access ramps to replace stairs.<ref name=PANYNJ2/> The design also allows for future transit service such as light rail.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line to Staten Island over the bridge has been proposed,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> though final design plans do not include a rapid transit component.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Finally, the project would support nearly 2,800 jobs<ref name=PANYNJ2/> and $240–380 million in wages throughout the construction industry,<ref name=NYYIMBY/> as well as $1.6 billion of economic activity.<ref name="HudReporter">Template:Cite news</ref>

The CoE estimated that raising the Bayonne Bridge would produce a $3.3 billion national benefit, noting that 12% of all US international containers pass under the bridge, that the port indirectly creates 269,900 jobs, and that port activity generates $11 billion in annual national wages.<ref name=HudReporter/> The project would allow 12,000-container ships to pass under the bridge, increasing capacity; before the project, the largest ships allowed to pass under the bridge were 9,000-container ships.<ref name=NewYorkTimes/> Congressmen from both New York and New Jersey pressed the Port Authority to act quickly,<ref name="jj-2009-09-28"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> despite lowered revenues from reduced traffic at the Port Authority's six crossings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Port Authority announced its official plan in 2011.<ref name=NJ.com/> The Coast Guard held two public meetings about the bridge in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Improvements at Port Jersey on the Upper New York Bay were also underway.<ref name=HudReporter/>

Mid-2010s: Construction of new roadbed

File:Bayonne Bridge 2 decks.agr.jpg

Late 2016 state, with both the old deck and new deck

The Port Authority believed that it was possible to build the new roadway without interrupting traffic flow between Staten Island and Bayonne. In July 2012, the Port Authority announced construction would begin in the middle of 2013, to be completed by 2017.<ref name="Slowey 2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In this timeline, removal of the existing roadway would be completed by late 2015, in time for the opening of the widened Panama Canal.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The project would cost $1.7 billion and last five years.<ref name="Heffernan"/>

File:Bayonne Bridge under construction roadbed-raising 2017.jpg

In October 2017, old deck partially removed

One of the challenges faced by the project was the tight confines of the construction area: residential homes lay less than Template:Cvt from the work site,<ref name="Heffernan"/> though none of them were in the path of the construction itself.<ref name=NewYorkTimes/> In 2014, Staten Islanders living near the Port Richmond work site filed a lawsuit, alleging that the construction work violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by exposing predominately-minority communities in Port Richmond to toxins.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, some Bayonne residents lodged complaints due to excessive noise, vibrations, dust over their neighborhood, and construction debris falling off the bridge (such as paint chips),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> though the Port Authority later settled those complaints.<ref name=NYYIMBY/> The project would also necessitate the temporary closure of a park in Bayonne.<ref name=HudReporter/> Additionally, the Bayonne Bridge would remain open to vehicle traffic throughout the construction.<ref name="Heffernan"/><ref name="port2011"/>

On April 24, 2013, the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners awarded a $743.3 million contract to a joint venture of Skanska Koch and Kiewit Infrastructure Company.<ref name=HudReporter/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The construction involved building support columns first, then adding prefabricated road segments using a gantry crane that rolled on top of the arch.<ref name=":0" /> The gantry crane would construct one rope-supported section of the new roadway at a time, using a temporary beam to support the existing roadway while each rope was replaced. The existing roadway would then be removed.<ref name="port2011">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Temporary bridge closures allowed new floor beams to be attached to the arch's ropes in order to support steel stringers that would hold up the new roadway.<ref name=":0"/> This work was expedited by Barack Obama's presidential administration due to the importance of the project to national commerce, being one of the first applicants to Obama's "We Can't Wait" initiative of important infrastructure projects.<ref name=HudReporter/><ref name=NYYIMBY/> New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also considered the project a high priority for his state.<ref name="Whelan 2015"/>

The pedestrian walkway, cantilevered from the western side of the roadway, was temporarily closed on August 5, 2013, for reconstruction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was to be moved to the eastern side of the bridge. The walkway was scheduled to reopen in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, the completion date was delayed to 2019,<ref name="Slowey 2015" /> due to unfavorable weather conditions in the winter of 2014–2015.<ref name="Whelan 2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This also delayed the desired navigational clearance to late 2017. The delays in the project meant that, with the expansion of the Panama Canal being completed in mid-2016, larger ships would not be able to serve Newark, thus possibly negatively affecting traffic to other ports on the United States' East Coast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Port Authority revised its timeline, expecting traffic to be shifted to the new roadway in early 2017, the old roadway to be removed by late 2017, and the project to be completed in mid-2019 with the completion of the roadway for southbound traffic.<ref name="port2011" /> In November 2016, the future northbound span, intended temporarily for both directions of travel, was completed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Container Ship CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt in NY Harbor on Sept 7, 2017 (36415318053).jpg

A New-Panamax ship, the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, about to transit under the heightened Bayonne Bridge in September 2017

On February 20, 2017, the completed eastern (future northbound) roadway opened for traffic, with one lane in each direction, and the old lower roadway was permanently closed. The western (future southbound) roadway was scheduled to be completed in 2019, at which time there would be two lanes in each direction and a pedestrian walkway. Also on February 20, the Bayonne Bridge became the first Port Authority crossing to use a fully automated and cashless electronic toll collection system. All vehicles proceed without stopping at the toll plaza. Those with E-ZPass are billed in the usual way, while cameras record the license plate numbers of those without an E-ZPass tag and their registered owners soon receive a toll bill by mail.<ref name="port2011" /><ref name="nj20170217">Villanova, Patrick. "Bayonne Bridge's new elevated roadway set to open" Template:Webarchive, The Jersey Journal, February 17, 2017. Accessed February 17, 2017. "A new era for the Bayonne Bridge will begin Monday when the newly constructed elevated roadway on the 85-year-old arch bridge opens to drivers.... Last week, the Port Authority revealed the bridge's new cashless toll on the Staten Island side of the Kill van Kull.... Toll payments will not change for drivers with E-ZPass, but for the less than 10 percent of Bayonne Bridge drivers who do not use E-ZPass, an overhead camera will photograph their vehicle's license plate and a toll bill will be mailed to the registered owner."</ref><ref name="silive_opens">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="silive_cashless">Template:Cite news</ref> The desired navigational clearance was achieved June 8, 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two years after the opening of the northbound roadway, on February 11, 2019, the new southbound roadway was completed, and the traffic flow of the bridge was restored to two lanes in each direction.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The pedestrian and bike path opened May 24, 2019.<ref name="hudsonreporter.com"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The overall project received the 2020 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, citing the "first-of-its-kind construction sequence, ... keeping both road and sea traffic open."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2020s to present

Suicide prevention call boxes were installed on the pedestrian walkway in March 2023.<ref name="Higgs 2023 l808">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After they were implemented on the George Washington Bridge in December 2023, the 11 K1 call boxes on the pedestrian path were upgraded to utilize the Knightscope Emergency Management System (KEMS) in March 2024.<ref name="Knightscope, Inc 2024 q384">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A study is being commenced to potentially upgrade existing suicide equipment, as well as adding equipment to the northbound roadway. Upgrades include adding netting to the fences of the pedestrian path, and upgrading call boxes to have increased communication capabilities with the Port Authority Police.<ref name="nj 2024 a501">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Traffic

File:Bayonne Bridge by Dave Frieder.jpg

View of the bridge's original deck from the lower chord

From January to November 2016, the Bayonne Bridge carried about 4,500 vehicles per day. The E-ZPass automatic collection system was used by 91% of drivers for toll payment.<ref name="panynj-ezpass">Port Authority of NY and NJ, 2016 Monthly Traffic and Percent of E-ZPass Usage Template:Webarchive, accessed November 5, 2016</ref> In 2011, it carried an average of 19,378 vehicles per day,<ref name="data2011">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp which dropped to a daily average of 15,221 vehicles in 2014 after construction started,<ref name="data2014">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp and further to 10,840 in 2015.<ref name="nycdot15">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Bayonne Bridge is more lightly trafficked than any other Port Authority crossing.<ref name=NYYIMBY/><ref name=panynj-ezpass/>

In September 2007, MTA Regional Bus Operations began a limited-stop bus route (the S89) that crosses the bridge. The route's termini are the Hylan Boulevard bus terminal in Eltingville, Staten Island and the 34th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station in Bayonne. This is the first interstate bus service offered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Tolls

Template:As of, the tolls-by-mail rate going from New Jersey to New York City is $18.31 for cars and motorcycles; there is no toll for passenger vehicles going from New York City to New Jersey. New Jersey and New York–issued E-ZPass users are charged $14.06 for cars and $13.06 for motorcycles during off-peak hours, and $16.06 for cars and $15.06 for motorcycles during peak hours. Users with E-ZPass issued from agencies outside of New Jersey and New York are charged the tolls-by-mail rate.<ref name="tolls">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Frequent users traveling more than three trips per month can receive discounts under the "Staten Island Bridges Plan" ($8.03 per trip for cars at all times).<ref name="tolls"/> From July 2025, the Mid-Tier rate Template:Show by date $18.72, while the toll-by-mail rate Template:Show by date $22.38.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Tolls are collected only for southbound traffic. Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for northbound drivers, and at the same time, southbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a Template:Convert stretch, from the Outerbridge Crossing in the south to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in the north, were changed to eastbound-only at that time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Open-road cashless tolling began on February 20, 2017. The tollbooths were dismantled, and drivers were no longer able to pay cash at the bridge. Instead, there are cameras mounted onto new overhead gantries located on the Staten Island side. A vehicle without E-ZPass has a picture taken of its license plate and a bill for the toll is mailed to its owner. For E-ZPass users, sensors detect their transponders wirelessly.<ref name=nj20170217/><ref name="silive_cashless"/>

Historic toll rates

Historic vehicular toll rates for the Bayonne Bridge

Years	Toll	Toll equivalent in Template:Inflation-yearTemplate:Inflation-fn	Direction collected	Template:Abbr
1931–1970	$0.50	$Template:Round–Template:Round	each direction	<ref name="nyt-1931-11-15" />
1970–1975	$1.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref name="Moran 1970">Template:Cite news</ref>
1975–1983	$1.50	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1983–1987	$2.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref name="Anderson Carroll 1983">Template:Cite news</ref>
1987–1991	$3.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref name="The New York Times 1987">Template:Cite news</ref>
1991–2001	$4.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref name="Levine 1991">Template:Cite news</ref>
2001–2008	$6.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	<ref name="Smothers 20012">Template:Cite news</ref>
2008–2011	$8.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011–2012	$12.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2012–2014	$13.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2014–2015	$14.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015–2020	$15.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	southbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020–2023	$16.00	$Template:Round–Template:Round	eastbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2023–2024	$17.00	$17.00	eastbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024–2025	$17.63	$17.63	eastbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Since January 5, 2025	$18.31	$18.31	eastbound only	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In popular culture

The Bayonne Bridge appears in the 2005 science fiction film War of the Worlds, being shown in the background several times in the scenes set in the lead character's Bayonne home; it is then destroyed in an attack by aliens.<ref name=NYYIMBY/><ref name="Beale 2004">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="hr20060827">Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge and surrounding Bayonne community was also featured in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind and the HBO prison drama Oz.<ref name="Beale 2004"/><ref name=hr20060827/>

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York
• List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey

References

Further reading

• Template:Cite enc-nyc

External links

• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge
  • Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge 80th year commemoration Template:Webarchive
• Bayonne Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels
• Bayonne Bridge (NY 440 and NJ 440) at NYCRoads.com
• Template:Structurae
• Bayonne Bridge Blog
• Template:HAER
• Timeline for the $1.7 billion Bayonne Bridge ‘Raise the Roadway’ project at The Jersey Journal