Replacement Coming For The Hated Portal Bridge Crossing

NORTH JERSEY – Delays and mechanical failures at the 109-year-old Portal Bridge may fade into this mists of history as more than $91.5 million in funding from the Federal Railroad Administration to improve service along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) has been approved.

The money is coming due to the efforts of U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker as well as U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., Albio Sires, Donald M. Payne Jr., and Tom Malinowski Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday during his COVID-19 briefing.

"This is a huge win for our state, for our commuters and for the future of our economy," Murphy said. "And quite frankly, given the economic power of the northeast corridor, its a win for our entire nation."

Long considered the linchpin of the entire NEC connecting Boston to Washington, D.C., the 110-year-old Portal Bridge carries an average 450 trains and 200,000 passengers each day.

“The pandemic has devastated New Jerseyans’ lifeblood transit systems,” said Pascrell, a longtime champion of regional transit and former member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “The Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River has been in decay for ages and this crisis has only worsened the ability to provide any upkeep. If the bridge is not reconstructed soon, one of the most important train arteries on the eastern seaboard will be crippled. This major award will help our state weather this crisis. It will help us begin rebuilding our infrastructure to ensure commuters will be able to get around when this nightmare is over.”

The antiquated, swing-style span over the Hackensack River in Kearny is notorious for breaking down and getting stuck in the open position, stranding commuters and grinding Amtrak and NJ Transit service to a halt.

“The oft-malfunctioning Portal Bridge has become the bane of existence for commuters. It’s long outlived its usefulness, and must be replaced without further delay,” said Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate’s transit subcommittee. “This federal funding keeps Gateway moving forward and makes needed upgrades along the busy Northeast Corridor to provide commuters a safer, more reliable and more resilient transit system.”

Building a new, higher, fixed Portal North Bridge is a key component of the broader Gateway Program that also includes construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River into Manhattan, among other improvements.

“New Jersey’s rail infrastructure is vital to the economic health of not only our state, but our region,” Booker said. “The reality is this critical infrastructure is crumbling beneath our feet, with the century-old Portal Bridge serving as a bottleneck for the entire Northeast Corridor. This federal infrastructure investment will help provide much-needed relief to New Jersey commuters who depend on reliable, safe rail transit.”

The FRA has awarded Amtrak $55,100,000 towards the federal cost share for the Portal North Bridge Project. The new span will be built with 50-foot clearance above the Hackensack River, negating the need to open for passing marine traffic. This will allow trains to run at faster speeds and substantially reduce delays along the NEC due to openings for waterway traffic and ensuing mechanical failures.

NJ Transit has been awarded $36,408,410 to reconstruct electrical substation 41 in Kearny that supplies power to a stretch of the NEC and existing Hudson rail tunnels leading into New York Penn Station. It suffered considerable damage during Superstorm Sandy and remains vulnerable to floods. The new, more resilient substation will allow for faster, more dependable train service and, when connected to NJ Transit’s independent power generation system, it will provide reliable power for the NEC in event of regional blackouts, severe weather, or cyber-attack. The project includes building the substation on a larger, higher platform—elevation 15 feet—and rerouting or redirecting up to four traction power transmission circuits that feed the substation. The Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) assisted with the proposal by providing the cost benefit analysis required to secure the federal funding.

NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett said more than 450 NJ Transit and Amtrak trains cross the bridge daily.

"We are extremely grateful for these two grant awards, which are critical to the advancement of the Portal North Bridge project and the overall reliability of the NEC," Corbett said. “We thank the USDOT, our partners at the FTA and FRA, and the NJ Congressional Delegation for their continued support of these critical projects."

In March, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced that it upgraded its rating to medium-high for the Portal North Bridge replacement project—a significant step towards making it eligible for federal funding. In 2015, Menendez, Booker, Pascrell and Sires helped secure a $16 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to help fund $20 million in preliminary construction work on the Portal North Bridge, which broke ground in the fall of 2017.

The Northeast Corridor generates one-fifth of the nation’s economy, and the NEC Commission estimates that a disruption of the NEC from Boston to Washington, D.C. would cost the country $100 million a day in lost production and economic activity.

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