Route 139 upper level eastbound new roadway partial reopening this week in Jersey City

Section between Central Avenue to Palisade Avenue complete as Pulaski Contract 2 advances

The newly reconstructed Route 139 upper level eastbound roadway will reopen between Central Avenue and Palisade Avenue by 5 a.m. Thursday, August 30. There will be one travel lane from Central Avenue to Oakland Avenue, and two travel lanes from Oakland Avenue to Palisade Avenue. The right lane from Hoboken Avenue will have an exclusive lane onto the new roadway until the reconstruction of the Summit Avenue Bridge over Route 139 lower level is completed in the spring of 2018. The temporary roadway will then be closed and removed. It will become a park from Oakland to Baldwin and have a sidewalk to Palisade Avenue.

Route 139 upper level eastbound was closed and diverted to a temporary roadway via Hoboken Avenue in October 2014 to allow the original roadway to be demolished and reconstructed. The project included the complete floorbeam and deck replacement, south column replacement, and the installation of highway lighting and traffic signals. In addition, the new roadway was realigned with the south ramp to the Holland Tunnel to improve safety and provide better traffic flow.

The project also included the reconstruction of five bridges over Route 139 lower level. Four of those bridges have been reconstructed and reopened, including the bridges on Palisade Avenue, Baldwin Avenue, Oakland Avenue, and Central Avenue. Summit Avenue was closed in May 2017 for the demolition and reconstruction of that bridge and is expected to be completed and reopened in the summer of 2018 at which time the entire Route 139 upper roadway eastbound will reopen from JFK Boulevard to Palisade Avenue.

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 and the Holland Tunnel. 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 hotline telephone number, 973-776-7400, and encourages anyone who has questions, concerns or suggestions to contact the Project Outreach Team as work progresses.

The precise timing of the work is subject to change due to weather or other factors. Motorists are encouraged to check NJDOT’s traffic information website www.511nj.org for real-time travel information and for NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NJDOT_info.