Palisade Avenue Bridge to be closed for summer
in Jersey City as Pulaski Contract 2 advances

Detour in place until the fall as bridge replacement advances

(Trenton) - New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced the full closure of the Palisade Avenue Bridge over Route 139 in Jersey City until the fall as the Pulaski Skyway Contract 2 advances.

Beginning at 9 p.m., tomorrow, Thursday, June 23, until the fall, NJDOT’s contractor, Schiavone Construction, will close the entire Palisade Avenue Bridge in both directions for the continued demolition of the bridge.  Local police will be on site to assist with the traffic detour.

The southbound lane was closed in April as demolition of the bridge began, leaving the northbound lane open to vehicles and the sidewalk on the east side (northbound lanes) open to pedestrians. Now that Dickinson High School is out for the summer the entire bridge will be closed, including the sidewalks.

Through the summer, the bridge will be reconstructed including new north and south abutments, pier columns and caps, structural steel, drain pipes and scuppers, and a new cast-in-place concrete deck. The bridge is expected to be completed and Palisade Avenue reopened before school begins in September.

The following detours will be in place during construction:

Southbound: Motorists traveling southbound on Palisade Avenue will be directed west onto Beacon Avenue to Baldwin Avenue southbound to Newark Avenue eastbound.

Northbound: Motorists traveling northbound trying to access Palisade Avenue from Newark Avenue will be directed to Baldwin Avenue northbound to Beacon Avenue eastbound to Palisade Avenue.

Local traffic destined for Hudson Gardens and Washburn Street from Newark Avenue will be allowed.

Pedestrians: Pedestrians are recommend to cross Route 139 using either Baldwin or Central Avenue.

NJ TRANSIT: NJ TRANSIT Bus Routes 64, 84, and 86 will be detoured using Pavonia Avenue, Baldwin Avenue, and Beacon Avenue.

Beginning at 11 p.m. Friday, June 24 until 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25, Route 139 lower level will be closed in both directions with traffic shifted to Route 139 upper level for demolition work to remove the concrete deck, steel floorbeams and stringers from the bridge. One westbound lane will be maintained on the lower level of Route 139 from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday. Route 139 upper level westbound will have all lanes open during the full lower level closure, and Route 139 upper level eastbound will have one lane closed from 1 a.m. until 7 a.m. Saturday, June 25.

The following detours will be in place for Route 139 Lower Level:

• Traffic heading toward Newark and points south and west are encouraged to use the New Jersey Turnpike Extension.

• Westbound Cars and Trucks:

  Traffic will be diverted to the upper level of Route 139 westbound to JFK Boulevard, where it will be directed to turn left and then to the first right onto the ramp leading to Tonnele Circle. From there cars can access the Pulaski Skyway southbound and Route 1&9 northbound. All other traffic heading to Route 1&9 Truck or Route 7 will take Route 1&9 northbound to the Country Road jughandle and turn left onto Manhattan Avenue eastbound. At the next light, traffic will turn right onto Route 1&9 southbound to the ramp for Route 1&9 Truck and Route 7.

• Eastbound Cars:

  Traffic will be diverted from Tonnele Circle to Tonnele Avenue southbound, where it will be directed to turn left onto St. Paul’s Avenue and then left onto JFK Boulevard to Route 139 upper level eastbound.

• Eastbound Trucks:

  Trucks will be directed south on Route 1&9 Truck to the Virginia Avenue jughandle to use Communipaw Avenue eastbound where they will be directed to turn left onto JFK Boulevard to Route 139 upper level eastbound.
  

This work is part of the $104 million Pulaski Contract 2, which will repair and improve the upper and lower levels of Route 139. Route 139 links the eastern end of the Pulaski Skyway to the Jersey City waterfront. During this contract, the deck on Route 139 upper level eastbound will be replaced, along with five cross street bridges from Palisade Avenue to Kennedy Boulevard.

Contract 2 is part of the $1 billion Pulaski Skyway rehabilitation project, which is being advanced through 10 separate construction contracts into the year 2020. The massive improvement project will extend the life of the Skyway by 75 years.

NJDOT created a project-specific website - www.pulaskiskyway.com - which contains a wealth of information about the Skyway and the project, and will be updated with relevant new information as work progresses. The Department is carefully coordinating the Pulaski Skyway project with other regional transportation infrastructure projects to minimize traffic congestion.

The Department has a project hotline telephone number, 973-776-7400, and email, Pulaski.Skyway@dot.nj.gov. Anyone who has questions, concerns, or suggestions is encouraged to contact the Project Outreach Team as work progresses.

NJDOT will be using Variable Message Signs to provide advance notification to motorists of traffic pattern changes associated with the work.  Follow us on Twitter @Skywayrehab and visit www.511nj.org for real-time travel advisories.