NEW JERSEY — A massive plan to expand the NJ Turnpike’s footprint in North Jersey is moving forward, but not without some serious pushback from advocates and some elected officials.
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority wants to spend $10.7 billion to rebuild an 8.1-mile stretch of the I-78 Turnpike extension, doubling the number of lanes across the Newark Bay through Bayonne and Jersey City to the Holland Tunnel.
The plan has been dubbed the “Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension Improvements Program.” No city, county, state or federal tax dollars will be used to fund the project, which will be paid for with toll revenue. See the Turnpike Authority’s description of the project here.
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The Turnpike Authority says the project would improve safety and ease traffic on the congested highway, in addition to boosting the growth of the nearby port system – one of the busiest in the nation. Officials estimate that the construction effort will create more than 25,000 jobs.
However, critics of the plan are alleging that the financial “boondoggle” will increase pollution in several overburdened communities, many of which are working-class communities of color. Advocates also claim the multi-billion-dollar plan is a bad investment at a time when public transportation should be the main priority.
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Activists continued their ongoing push against the proposal on Tuesday, gathering in Jersey City to demand that Gov. Phil Murphy slam the brakes on it. The rally took place just before the Turnpike Authority hosted an “open house” event in the city to discuss the plan.
“The expansion of the Newark Bay Bridge ranks nationally as one of the most expensive highway boondoggles in the country,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey.
“Together with the expansion of the Turnpike Extension, this is a project from the last century … but with a jaw-dropping price tag of $11 billion,” O’Malley continued. “The solution to our transportation crisis isn’t to widen highways in our cities – it is to invest in mass transit and to use NJTA dollars to more fully invest in NJ Transit for the sake of transit riders and drivers.”
THE ‘NECESSITY’ OF BRIDGE REPLACEMENT
According to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the project is a “necessity” on a highway that acts as an official state of New Jersey evacuation route – not to mention one of the busiest commuter roads in the region.
Opened to traffic in 1956, the Newark Bay-Hudson County extension runs from Interchange 14 in Newark to the Jersey Avenue intersection in Jersey City. Nearly 80 percent of the roadway is carried on bridge structures.
Here’s why that’s a problem – and why expanding the highway is the solution, officials claim:
“Those 29 structures are in poor condition and require regular, disruptive and costly maintenance just to remain in service. Traffic growth and port-related heavy truck activity cause regular congestion. The Newark Bay-Hudson County Extension Improvements Program will modernize the extension, replacing the 29 bridge structures and adding capacity to ensure safety, reduce congestion, and support the growth in the surrounding communities.”
These bridges can’t be rehabbed due to “significant issues below the surface,” and they can’t handle the weight of the trucks that are headed to Port Newark and Elizabeth, the agency notes. See Related: Major Construction Begins At Port Newark, Elizabeth Terminal
The program consists of four independent projects. The first project – the agency’s “top priority” – will rebuild the extension between Interchange 14 in Newark and Interchange 14A in Bayonne and Jersey City. It will also replace 16 bridges, including the Vincent Robert Casciano Bridge (Newark Bay Bridge), which will be supplanted by two new bridges with four lanes in each direction.
Work is expected to begin in 2026 and will last from eight to 10 years, officials say.
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Most of the drivers who use the highway are not headed to New York City via the Holland Tunnel, the Turnpike Authority notes. Data shows that nearly 80 percent of the eastbound Extension traffic is bound for Jersey City (56%), Bayonne (17%) and other parts of Hudson County (6%).
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‘CLIMATE DENIALISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE’
According to advocates and several elected officials, there are plenty of reasons to hit the brakes on the plan. Among them is the basic assumption that adding more lanes will cut down on traffic jams – which isn’t true, they claim.
“The Turnpike Authority’s own analysis would increase traffic volumes compared to a no-build alternative,” said Corey Hannigan of Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
“This is a textbook case of climate denialism and environmental injustice,” Hannigan insisted.
Matt Smith of Food & Water Watch said that transportation is the “single-largest source of climate pollution in New Jersey” at 34 million metric tons annually.
“These emissions mostly come from cars and trucks whose tailpipes also produce ground-level ozone, a leading cause of the exceedingly high asthma rates in environmental justice communities in Newark and Hudson County,” Smith said.
According to Debra Kagan, executive director of New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition, the project is an “irresponsible investment in the same old approaches that have created the problems we face now.”
“We need to change our transportation funding priorities from outdated turnpike expansions to building reliable transit and infrastructure for safe biking and walking if we are to ever meet our climate and safety goals in New Jersey,” Kagan argued.
Other advocates are slamming a draft environmental impact statement released by the Turnpike Authority, which found that the project “will not disproportionately impact overburdened communities or create adverse environmental and public health impacts.”
“Contrary to the position taken in the EA, the project will have substantial negative environmental impacts on all the residents of Newark and Hudson County – but particularly our most vulnerable citizens – for generations to come,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka wrote in a letter this week.
In the meanwhile, it’s time to finally start looking towards public transportation as the solution to the state’s travel needs, other elected officials in North Jersey add.
“The reality is, $10 billion would be better served by investing in mass transit, as the majority of working families cannot afford to drive their personal vehicles into Manhattan every day and pay for parking,” Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop argued, a consideration that may get even worse with the potential onset of congestion pricing.
“Most regular people rely on mass transit to commute, and $10 billion can solve our transit issues statewide while still creating the same number of union jobs,” Fulop added.
“There is no doubt that this project will increase traffic, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, representing an extremely poor choice for spending taxpayer dollars,” Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla agreed.
“Instead of investing billions into expanding the Turnpike without any expansion of the Holland Tunnel, New Jersey should be a climate leader and direct these resources towards enhancing public transportation options and mitigating the 15 percent NJ Transit fare hike that just took effect,” Bhalla said.
“Our focus must be on creating a greener, healthier future for our communities, not perpetuating outdated, car-centric infrastructure projects,” he added.
The Turnpike Trap coalition and EmpowerNJ, which spearheaded Tuesday’s rally in Hudson County, has released a list of several other concerns involving the proposal. They include:
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