Time To Fix New Jersey's Broken Transportation Policy

Gov. Chris Christie refuses to fix the state's chronically underfunded transportation system out of the state's own revenues. This includes roads, bridges, transit, and rail systems. Rather than increase the state's low motor fuel taxes and risk the ire of Republicans who would complain about the tax hike, he's used his sway at the Port Authority to use money originally tasked to building a new rail tunnel into Manhattan to fix several bridges that aren't part of the Port Authority's mission, including the historic Pulaski Skyway.

Fixing those bridges were overdue, but it means that funds that should have gone to expanding the state's crumbling infrastructure were instead devoted to projects that should have been covered by the state's transportation trust fund but for the fact that the fund is essentially bankrupt with no relief in sight.

Christie orchestrated a fare and toll hike at the Port Authority and then turned around to use some of those funds to go and fix the Pulaski Skyway, Wittpenn Bridge, and several other roads that are considered approaches to the Holland Tunnel, even though they are miles from the facility itself.

That's why New Jersey residents need to take matters into their own hands. If Gov. Christie wont increase the motor fuel tax or raise revenues to dedicate to transportation matters in the state, then voters need to petition to amend the state constitution to raise the needed revenue for dedicated purposes.

By fixing the state's own revenue situation, it can help get the Port Authority to refocus on the bistate projects it was designed to do. It would free up revenues to maintain and expand its facilities, including the Port Authority Bus Terminal, contemplate assisting in the construction of the Gateway Tunnel to double capacity on the Northeast Corridor, and expand PATH to Newark Airport while keeping its infrastructure in a state of good repair.

Currently, New Jersey imposes a 10.5 cent per gallon gasoline tax and 13.5 cent per gallon diesel fuel tax. It's a rate that is unchanged since 1989, and the purchasing power has seriously eroded. Together, they generate about $540 million annually. This amount has actually fallen in recent years because of declining driving and increased fuel economy.

If we assume that drivers will maintain their current amount of driving, a tax increase of $.10 per gallon on each of the gasoline and diesel tax would potentially raise about $500 million annually. It would not only replenish the transportation trust fund, but it would enable the state to fund sorely needed road and rail projects without resorting to deficit funding, fiscal gimmicks, and raiding the Port Authority to do projects.

To this end, voters should consider the following ballot question:

Constitutional amendment to set a state minimum wage with annual cost of living increases.
Do you approve amending the State Constitution to set a state motor fuel tax equal to 20.5 cents per gallon for gasoline and 23.5 cents per gallon for diesel and other motor fuels. The amendment also requires bi-annual increases in that rate if there are annual increases in the cost of living.
Yes
No

The interpretive statement would run something along the lines of:
This amendment to the State Constitution sets the State gasoline and motor fuel taxes at a level sufficient to fund state transportation projects. Half the funds would be dedicated to road, bridge, and tunnel projects across the state, while the other half of the funds would be devoted to supporting mass transit projects, including NJ Transit operations that have the effect of reducing motor vehicle usage, congestion, and pollution statewide. The level of the tax would be adjusted every other year to account for cost of living adjustments.

Residents know that the state's roads, bridges, and tunnels, are a mess, but Gov. Christie refuses to take the necessary actions to improve the structural problems with how the state funds its transportation and infrastructure budgets. Putting the question to voters would go a long way to fixing the problems.

For those concerned that the tax would be an economic hit, one should also count the economic harm done by having a crumbling infrastructure, where roads and bridges can no longer handle modern traffic loads, road damage to vehicles costs drivers hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in damage, and the state can't address its backlog of critical projects that need adequate funding.

The tax increase proposed would still mean that motor fuel purchased in New Jersey is cheaper than those of all the neighboring states by a wide margin. Including federal tax of 18.4 cents, New Jersey regular fuel costs motorists 33 cents a gallon in taxes overall. In Pennsylvania, it’s about 60 cents, and in New York nearly 70 cents, the group says. The 10 cent hike would still mean that New Jersey drivers would pay nearly 30 cents less per gallon than New York and 17 cents less than Pennsylvania.

Governor's Demanded Audit of Port Authority Finds Need For Toll Hikes

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently underwent an outside audit as required by Governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo. They did so because of the fallout over a major toll and fare increase that went into effect earlier this year and follow-on hikes set for the next three Decembers as well as complaints that the agency was diverting funds for transportation projects to finish the World Trade Center project.

The audit report, prepared by the consulting firms Navigant Consulting Inc. and Rothschild Inc., finds that the Port Authority must raise tolls in order to maintain its credit rating and carry out infrastructure maintenance and upgrades over the next decade.

The report, prepared by the consulting firms Navigant Consulting Inc. and Rothschild Inc., lays out $26.9 billion in projects the Port Authority is poised to undertake through 2020 — everything from replacing the suspender ropes on the George Washington Bridge to raising the Bayonne Bridge and completing the World Trade Center. But it also identified about $44 billion in needs, including fixing aging terminals at Newark Liberty International and La Guardia airports.

To generate enough revenue to finance those projects, the report recommended that the agency attract private corporations to invest in joint projects and pursue aggressive cost-control measures, some of which Port Authority officials said they recently put in place. Port Authority officials said they would also pursue advertising revenue at its facilities to bring in more non-toll and fare money and would also continue to collect money owed by other government agencies and toll cheats.

The report mounted a strong defense of last year’s toll hikes at the agency’s bridges and tunnels, to $9.50 from $8 during peak travel times. They are scheduled to rise an additional 75 cents each December through 2015. Without those increases, the Port Authority would have had to cut $6 billion from its capital plan over the next decade, imperiling critical projects and its credit rating, the report said. Even with the toll hikes, the report said, the agency is losing money on its bridges, tunnels, trains and bus terminals. The report also encouraged the Port Authority to “educate the public” about tolls on some of the New York City-owned bridges linking Manhattan and its boroughs.

The Port Authority is responsible for infrastructure that is in many places approaching 80 years of age or more.

Bridges such as the Goethals and Outerbridge crossing need replacement due to their being functionally obsolete. The Bayonne Bridge must be raised to permit Super Panamax shipping to port facilities.

The George Washington Bridge needs upkeep, including replacing the suspenders that carry the bridge deck weight.

Airport terminals at JFK, LGA, and EWR are 52 years old and contribute to delays and bad customer experiences. The average age for PATH facilities is 72 years, and Port commerce facilities are 57 years old. The increasing age of the facilities means more must be spent to maintain a state of good repair, and that facilities need to be replaced or modernized to maintain competitive advantages over other facilities nationally and around the world.

The full report indicates $3.2 billion in capital construction for airport rehabilitation and improvement projects, focused on Newark Liberty's Terminal A, JFK's Terminal 4 and 5, and LaGuardia's entire terminal infrastructure.

Further, PATH would see another $2 billion in infrastructure projects, including extending rail platforms to accommodate 10-car trains, signal work, and tunnel modernization.

More than $4 billion would be spent on bridge-related projects, though the figure for raising the Bayonne Bridge appears to be 20% higher than the $1 billion costs previously acknowledged for that project. Also, the Goethals Bridge replacement span costs don't appear to show the full cost for that project - which are expected to be financed in a public-private partnership.

The report also indicates a negative free cash flow largely as a result of WTC construction, PATH, Ferry and Port facilities. This situation needs to be addressed all while maintaining the current level of service. At the same time, the bulk of the negative cash flow is the result of WTC construction, which means that the sooner the construction is completed, the sooner that the Port Authority will obtain revenues from WTC related facilities - the office tower rents, retail spaces, and taking construction costs off the books. The ongoing delays in construction have only made the Port Authority's financial situation worse, but it isn't sole reason. The Port's operations incur losses of $28 per container because the revenue stream from tenant rentals is insufficient to cover recurring capital costs, such as dredging and system upgrades. PATH loses about $3 per passenger, which is comparable to other mass transit systems although PATH doesn't get federal subsidies as seen in other mass transit systems.

Aviation facilities are the key generator of Port Authority revenues, with more than $20 in revenue per passenger, while bridges and tunnels generate $7.50 per vehicle.

Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Gains Key Approval

Despite concerns that the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council was violating state law, or at least stretching the notice requirements so as to allow a vote on the Tappan Zee replacement project without giving proper notice, the Council did hold its emergency meeting today.

Backed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Council unanimously approved the project, even though there's still no concrete design and the final costs are still not known.

The 9:30 meeting was streamed from the state Department of Transportation website, but had no audio during the 40-minute program, which included public comments from Riverkeeper and Tri-State Transportation Campaign and a presentation by the board.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a steadfast advocate of a new Tappan Zee, is expected to comment on the milestone vote at a news conference in Piermont at 1 p.m., his office said.

The unanimous vote in favor of the $5.2 billion project was expected, after the county executives from Westchester, Rockland, and Punam announced last week they supported the governor’s plan to replace the Tappan Zee. To ensure the state could compete for federal funds for the project, today’s meeting was quickly organized on Friday afternoon.

That drew sharp criticism from major interest groups which argued that a last-minute notice prevented the public from getting involved.

Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, attended Monday’s vote and questioned whether the project will be able to secure federal funds. Last week, a state comptroller report blasted the Thruway Authority for poorly managed finances. The Thruway Authority owns and operates the Tappan Zee.

“In order for this to be a competitive project, there are a lot of red flags raised, by the comptroller and by the credit agencies,” Vanterpool said. “That needs to be addressed. You want it to be the best project so it will receive federal funds. How can it be the best project if the finances are so shaky?”

Even the county officials in Rockland and Westchester are left with only assurances that mass transit (whether bus rapid transit or commuter rail) will eventually be included in an I-87/I-287 corridor project to come after the bridge is built with capacity to handle eventual construction.

We'll probably get our first crack at viewing the bridge designs once the winning bids are announced next month.

Still, the biggest question is how the bridge construction will be funded. Approximately $2 billion will be paid for via a federal loan. The remainder will be funded from user tolls. The last couple of weeks have seen the Governor's office release a toll structure that would nearly triple tolls, but then Governor Cuomo admitted that the tolls seem to be high.

He's trying to play the tolls both ways. On the one hand, his office put out those numbers knowing what it would take to cover the construction and debt costs. By their reckoning, those tolls are needed to fund the construction if the state is incapable or unwilling to pony up the money directly so as to cover the debt costs and construction costs directly. On the other hand, the Governor can claim that he's now concerned that the numbers would produce such high tolls and he'd look into it.

However, that could mean that the transit options get shelved indefinitely, even though they have the potential to take the largest number of vehicles off the road and reduce congestion throughout the I-87/I-287 corridor. That, however, is a direct competitor to the Thruway Authority's need to stimulate tolls that generate revenues for the Authority to fund both capital projects and operating expenses.

One of the rationales for hiking the tolls to their stratospheric levels is that it would match the George Washington Bridge's new tolling. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense since the Port Authority's come under fire itself for hiking tolls when the perception that the money isn't going to fund transportation infrastructure but rather World Trade Center work. Mind you that the gap in the Port Authority's budget is due almost entirely to the cost overruns associated with the PATH transit hub at the WTC - $1.2 billion in overruns nearly matches the money expected to be realized from the toll hikes.

What gets lost in all this is why infrastructure projects costs as much as they do when compared to European or Japanese projects of similar scope. There's no reason they should cost as much, and yet project after project has seen overruns and cost estimates that boggle the mind.

Bids For Tappan Zee Replacement Come In Under $5.2 Billion

I'm not quite sure that we should take this as good news: bids for the Tappan Zee bridge replacement have come in under $5.2 billion. The good news is that the building conglomerates think that the bridge could be built for less than the NYS Thruway Authority and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have estimated.

The bad news is that the bids could simply be underestimating the amounts so as to win the bid, and that the costs will end up being at or above the $5.2 billion level.

One has to wonder just how stringent the Thruway Authority will be in determining how accurate the estimated costs will be, and whether everyone inflated costs on the project. After all, one has to wonder why construction costs are as high as they are, when we aren't getting as much for our money as we should expect.

If, and it's a huge if, the bids can keep to their budget of under $5.2 billion, it should keep the overall toll increases down, and should provide an opportunity to include bus rapid transit to be rolled into the construction phase, rather than waiting until some indeterminate point in the future to have a second construction phase to link bus rapid transit or commuter rail on the bridge.

The state and Thruway Authority need to impress on the New York Congressional delegation to make sure that the federal government provides funding for the bridge, which is integral to the Interstate system and a key link across the Hudson River (the closest Interstate links are 30 miles south (George Washington Bridge) and 35 miles north (Newburgh Beacon Bridge). That makes the bridge essential to interstate traffic and it's a major bypass for truck traffic looking to avoid traffic on the George Washington Bridge heading into New England from New Jersey and points south.

Thus far, it appears that the state is hoping to get a $2 billion federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan to help cover the cost, but the bulk of the financing is going to come from bonds backed by toll hikes.

Toll hikes across the entire Thruway Authority are possible, but there's opposition to hikes across the entire system, even though the benefits are spread across the entire system. Toll hikes are also a concern since much of the currently imposed tolls are going to debt service that was rolled over and extended rather than allowing the tolls to expire across the state.

Bridge Repairs To Cause Massive Headaches For NY Drivers

The Alexander Hamilton bridge, which spans the Harlem River and is a huge bottleneck for anyone who takes the George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York, is currently undergoing a huge reconstruction and rehabilitation project. New lanes are being added, and traffic diversions are a regularly occurring feature.

Now, those construction headaches are being taken to another level as the upcoming phase of construction will further limit the number of lanes available.

Getting across the world’s busiest bridge is rarely easy during rush hour, but traffic engineers estimate that backups on eastbound Route 95 could extend to Route 80 in Hackensack — nearly five miles from the bridge — and down the New Jersey Turnpike, a New York Department of Transportation spokesman said Tuesday. Traffic heading back to New Jersey from New York will not be affected.

Significant and consistent delays on North Jersey’s busiest traffic arteries could also mean spillover into side streets, as commuters look for alternative routes, experts said.

A Port Authority spokesman said the agency was not aware of a past road repair project that caused such a sustained and severe impact on traffic flow at the bridge, crossed easterly by 140,000 vehicles per day. But because the project is in New York, the delays are sure to take some New Jersey commuters by surprise on Monday morning.

“I wasn’t even aware that there was a project, but you can bet that until it’s done, I’ll be taking the train,” Kris Baker, 47, of Teaneck said after learning about the construction on Tuesday. He said he usually drives to his job at a bank in Manhattan.

The expected backups are due to a $409 million rehabilitation of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, a nearly 50-year-old arch span that carries Route 95 traffic over the Harlem River, between Manhattan and the Bronx. The mostly federally funded project, the largest the New York State Department of Transportation has ever undertaken, will extend the bridge’s life another 75 years. Work is under way, but the fourth of six phases will involve resurfacing the bridge. As a result, the middle section of the eastbound highway will be closed, with traffic diverted to new lanes that curve around it on both sides.

Officials say once completed about two years from now, the same New Jersey roads that will be clogged over the next several months will see fewer delays because of the span’s repaved surface and additional breakdown lane.

Transportation officials are expecting that New York bound drivers could face delays of miles during the rush hour. They figure that traffic will back up more than 5 miles into Hackensack and the I80/I95 split.

This is what happens when you try to get 7 lanes of inbound traffic down to four restricted lanes. It also means that traffic from the upper level will have an even tougher time trying to cross traffic to get to the Major Deegan (I87/I287).

Still, the project is absolutely critical since it would extend the life of the bridge by another 75 years, plus it adds a breakdown lane - eliminating traffic bottlenecks that were an all too normal occurrence when there were accidents or breakdowns before construction began.

The only real alternatives for trucks is to either go up to the Tappan Zee bridge or to sit in traffic.

Commuters ought to seriously consider mass transit to avoid the headaches, but those who cannot commute by mass transit or who are driving across the span will have massive delays to contend with. Localities on both sides of the bridge will find major traffic problems as drivers clog up local streets.

And the problems will get worse once the Port Authority begins its reconstruction project on the Lincoln Tunnel helix.

What To Do With $70 Billion in Unspent Earmarks

Senator Tom Coburn has announced that the federal government has more than $70 billion in unspent earmarks on its books that must account for. This includes monies that were designated for state and local projects that those localities later chose not to do.

The $70 billion figure is money that's been unspent for years, including $13 billion in road-building money that was earmarked to the wrong places, or for projects that states and localities no longer want to build.

In one case Mr. Coburn said $29 million was dedicated to a highway interchange in Newport News, Va., in 1998, but the state abandoned the project. The congressman who sponsored the earmark died in 2000, but the money remains unspent.

In another case Atlanta is still holding onto $2.7 million in funding that was allowed to be spent only on the 1996 Olympics.

"A dollar taken from the taxpayers left unspent is a dollar not needed by the government or a dollar that did not go to someone in need," Mr. Coburn said in a letter accompanying his report. "It represents a failure to budget wisely."

That's a small sum of the total federal budget and the ongoing deficit, but it's a not insignificant sum of money that could go to any number of major infrastructure projects around the nation.

It could secure the financing (or outright pay for) for any number of bridge and tunnel projects and other critical infrastructure projects. That includes air traffic control system upgrades that would boost efficiencies for the airlines and travelers by reducing congestion at airports and reduce the amount of fuel needed to reach any number of destinations. The economic benefits of upgrading the air traffic control system could reach into the billions of dollars annually as flight times are cut by routing planes more directly to their destinations.

It could help fully fund the entire 2d Avenue Subway, which would enable hundreds of thousands of commuters to more easily reach their destinations in New York City. It could fund the replacement spans for the Tappan Zee, Goethals Bridges, or the Pulaski Skyway. It could mean the construction of the Gateway Tunnel and Portal Bridges on the NEC.

It could mean construction of replacement spans for hundreds of deficient bridges, overpasses, and roads around the nation.

It could mean addressing deteriorating conditions of sanitary sewers and water delivery systems.

It could mean addressing funding shortfalls for National Park infrastructure, such as rehabilitating roads, visitor centers, and habitat restoration.

All of these have tangible economic benefits - not only immediate benefits due to construction work and the jobs created, but the long term benefits of improving and maintaining long-neglected infrastructure.

This is one of the major shortfalls of the ARRA of 2009 - it didn't sufficiently address infrastructure work, despite plenty of shovel-ready projects around the nation that would have benefited from the work.

One Major New York Metro Area Bottleneck To Be Replaced; Another Awaiting Federal Approval

Utter the words Kosciuszko bridge to a New Yorker, and besides the multiple inflections and pronunciations, you'll get a string of epithets. The bridge spans Newtown Creek straddling the Brooklyn and Queens border, but it also links the Brooklyn Queens Expressway with the Long Island Expressway (LIE).

The bridge is functionally obsolete and a danger to the public. It is built without modern sight lines, lacks breakdown lanes, and the merge lanes for traffic coming from the LIE is nonexistent. Vehicle crashes on the bridge are frequent, and cause significant backups on major arterial highways.

In other words, it's a prime candidate to be replaced.

Talks have been underway for years to replace the bridge, and within the past couple of years, the talk has given way to tangible progress on a design competition and this year Gov. Cuomo and the New York State legislature have adopted a transportation budget with $460 million going to the bridge replacement.

Construction on the project is scheduled to begin by next April 1, and the new structure is expected to be ready by 2017. It is one of hundreds of structurally deficient bridges around the state.

New York Works is a so-called infrastructure bank that draws from pooled government and private funding designed to speed up spending on big infrastructure projects.

The state Department of Transportation is in charge of the project, but its website hasn't been updated to reflect the state funding, or which of the four design alternatives have been chosen. I'm rather partial to the cable stayed version, though the through-arch design strikes a balance between reflecting the original truss design and a modern design aesthetic.

Regardless of the design chosen, it will incorporate new technologies, improved safety and sight-lines, and better integration of traffic flow. The old span will remain in use until the new span is completed.

Meanwhile, the Port Authority is awaiting word from the federal government on approval to lift the roadway on the Bayonne Bridge to permit Super Panamax shipping to clear the span. Failing to lift the bridge would mean the New York/New Jersey port would be at a major competitive disadvantage and force shipping to go to other East Coast ports to offload and would affect thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of business.

Cronyism Has Always Been Part Of the Port Authority's Problem

Cronyism and patronage jobs have long been a problem at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It's due to the fact that this is a bistate agency where governors of two states appoint key positions and jobs often go to politically connected individuals who may or may not have the skills needed to run an agency tasked with running bridges, tunnels, airports, and ports along with the reconstruction efforts at Ground Zero.

So, I'm a wee bit amused at the fact that there are calls in the New York Times op-ed to end the cronyism at the Port Authority as though this is something new. The writer likes to think that the agency worked well and was largely insulated from political winds blowing in Trenton, Albany, and New York City but that glosses over that the authority's focus and direction remains at the whim of the political leaders in charge at the Port Authority who get their working orders from their respective political masters.

The situation has gotten noticeably worse as the states are constrained from building and rebuilding infrastructure because their tax base can't be grown further and they can't issue debt in the way that they used to; they are increasingly reliant on the Port Authority's tolling ability to fund new and expanded projects across the region.

The only way to rein in the Authority's patronage is to limit the scope of the Authority's operations and to require that the Authority funding go to Authority projects only. The Port Authority shouldn't be in the business of real estate and it should be forced to divest itself of the World Trade Center responsibilities - and to scale back the PATH terminal there that has gone overbudget by nearly $2 billion from its original projections. It should be in the business of maintaining its bridges and tunnels, port operations, and airports, and it's not doing a sufficient job on any of these projects.

There are key projects that must be accomplished to maintain the region's dominance in international trade and infrastructure - raising the Bayonne Bridge, replacing the Goethals Bridge, upgrading terminals at all three regional airports and expanding operations at Stewart Airport, and carrying out improvements to the George Washington Bridge. There is also the deferred plans to build a new parking garage for buses heading to the Port Authority Bus Terminal that would reduce congestion around the Terminal and improve air quality in the vicinity due to not forcing buses to idle waiting to get into the terminal or driving back to New Jersey empty because of a lack of capacity on the New York side.

These projects are at the core of the Authority's mission, and yet political leaders are eyeing the Port Authority for other purposes. That's got to end and the Authority must focus on doing what it's supposed to do.

Port Authority Announces Major Renovations For George Washington Bridge Approaches

The Port Authority had previously announced its intention to replace all of the George Washington Bridge's stringers (the vertical suspenders that attach the roadway decks to the suspension cables) as part of its 5-year capital plan. Today, it has announced several projects that also affect the bridge and the hundreds of thousands of people who use the bridge on a daily basis.

For starters, the $1 billion stringer replacement project is getting $20 million for planning. However, that's the warmup for a host of other projects affecting the span and its approaches.

The agency’s Board of Commissioners has taken action to facilitate the intensive bridge rehabilitation program. The Board’s actions included a project to rehabilitate the 178th and 179th Street and bus ramps, planning work for the rehabilitation of the Center Avenue and Lemoine Avenue bridges, and planning for rehabilitation work on the bridge’s lower level. The investments approved today cost an estimated $230 million; ultimately, the three projects are estimated to cost between $460 and $480 million.

In addition to these projects, the Board authorized a $20 million planning project in December 2011 to replace the George Washington Bridge’s steel suspender ropes. That project is anticipated to cost between $1 and $1.2 billion and is projected to generate nearly 4,000 jobs and more than one billion in economic activity.

“The George Washington Bridge is the busiest crossing in the world and represents the most critical connector of commerce in the Northeast region,” said Port Authority Chairman David Samson. “Maintaining this iconic structure goes to the heart of the Port Authority’s mission, both as an engine of economic growth and as a provider of the region’s most important infrastructure.”

“These projects are core to the mission of the Port Authority of building and maintaining transportation infrastructure that will ensure the efficient, safe movement of people and goods in the New York New Jersey region,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. “These are important assets to the Port Authority, and as stewards of the public’s infrastructure we must maintain and preserve them for future generations.”

Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni said, “Every day, more than 300,000 people use this bridge to get to work, to shop or to visit friends on both sides of the Hudson. In 2010 alone, the bridge handled some 102 million vehicles on its two levels, toll plazas and toll lanes. It is critical therefore that we invest in this program to ensure this vital asset for the region continues to serve the region for years to come.”

Recent engineering studies have indicated that the 178th and 179th Street ramps, two associated bus ramps and the bus connector ramp structure that links these elevated areas must be rehabilitated. The street ramps were built in 1931 and last underwent a comprehensive rehaliltation more than 20 years ago. The bus ramps and associated connector ramp were built in 1958 and last had work on them in the late 1980s. The work on these ramps is projected to cost $218.8 million and is estimated to create 1,013 jobs, $72 million in wages, and $334 in economic activity.

The 178th and 179th Street ramps and the associated bus ramps are located on the Manhattan side of the bridge, while the Center Avenue and Lemoine Avenue overpasses are on the New Jersey side.


View Larger Map

The bridge will also undergo lead abatement and repainting on the lower level and other structural and functional repairs.

Yet, the Port Authority is not going to tackle the issue of lengthy delays caused by backups due to insufficient numbers of cash lanes that thwart users of EZ Pass from getting through in a more timely and efficient manner (to say nothing of the pollution due to the idling of hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks on a daily basis).

One consideration might be to make the Lower Level accessible only to vehicles with EZ Pass, rather than trying to back up traffic unnecessarily. It's a low-cost alternative to other efforts, and the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Traffic would flow more smoothly, though cash-customers might complain about being stuck in the same traffic flow as the trucks. Of course, the response to those customers should be to get EZ-Pass to avoid having those kinds of delays. Reducing the congestion would increase economic activity throughout the region.

Port Authority Commits To Raising Bayonne Bridge By 2016

These are busy and tough times for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Chris Ward, the head of the agency is being forced out to make way for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's choice, Patrick Foye, the agency has taken serious flack for its massive fare and toll hikes, and claims that it misspent money on the rebuilding at Ground Zero that has left its capital funds depleted and key infrastructure projects go undone.

One of the projects that has to get done is raising the height of the Bayonne Bridge. The bridge, which straddles the Kill Van Kull between Staten Island New York and New Jersey is an engineering masterpiece and was at one time the longest arch bridge in the world. However, it's height is a major problem considering that new super Panamax shipping is expected in the next few years as the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014 means that a new generation of ships wont be able to pass underneath and access the area's container shipping ports for at least two years.

Thus, it's critical that the height of the bridge roadway be raised to allow for the new class of shipping. The Port Authority is now saying that the bridge will be raised by 2016. Setting a date is a good start, but that means that other ports along the northeast will be able to benefit from shipping until the project is completed.

The project would require the roadway be raised within the arch itself, and approaches adjusted accordingly.

The Port Authority can't delay this project and in reality, it should be expediting the project to complete it by 2014 because of the importance to the local economy. Tens of thousands of jobs are in the balance here, and delays will put those jobs at risk.

UPDATE:
NJ.com has an overview of the process to raise the road deck to the 215 foot level above the water. The Port Authority has also put together a video.

New Study Finds Many NYC Bridges Deficient or Obsolete

No surprises here. A new study has found that many New York City area bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. If you drive around here, you'd know this to be true.

The report classifies the Brooklyn Bridge as “structurally deficient,” meaning it requires more frequent monitoring, critical maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement. Some 106,392 cars cross the bridge per day, according to the report. The report says the Triboro Bridge is also “structurally deficient.”

The Manhattan Bridge is dubbed “functionally obsolete,” meaning that while it is not run down, it’s not the best plan for the 48,416 cars that cross it a day, on average. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, which takes 120,284 cars a day on average, is also dubbed “functionally obsolete.” The same designation is slapped on the George Washington Bridge, which handles some 285,620 cars per day.

All in all in the New York metropolitan area, 9.8 percent of the bridges are considered deficient.

Bridges can be considered obsolete if they lack breakdown lanes, have lanes that are too narrow for current standards, or if they handle capacity far in excess of what they were originally designed for.

That would include everything from the Triborough (RFK) Bridge, which saw its approaches recently rebuilt, to the George Washington Bridge, and Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

It's why the Port Authority has to replace the Goethals Bridge, increase the height of the Bayonne Bridge, replace the helix into the Lincoln Tunnel and replace stringers on the GWB. It's why the approaches on the Brooklyn Bridge need to be replaced and key components replaced on that and other bridges.

All this costs money that the City, State and feds appear unwilling to spend. Deferred maintenance turns out to be far more costly since repairs that might have been caught early turn into far bigger problems down the road and require far more invasive and time-consuming repairs.

Transportation agencies and the state and local governments have to devote more effort to maintaining such infrastructure, and replace that which must be replaced.

To see whether bridges in your area are in adequate condition, check here. A caveat though: the information that drives that system may be out of date. For instance, a bridge over the Passaic River near my home was listed as structurally deficient but it has been replaced in the past two years. It was replaced since its last inspection. On the flip side, bridges that may have been adequate may have fallen into disrepair and are now deficient.

Welcome to the Real World: Port Authority Gets Its Fare/Toll Hikes After Brokered Deal With Cuomo and Christie

As I have been warning, the Port Authority is getting its toll hike. Governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo got the political cover they needed. Commuters got stuck with the bill.

Under the new plan, E-ZPass tolls would be raised in September to $9.50 a ride at peak hours, from $8, on the George Washington Bridge, the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, and three other crossings to Staten Island.

Drivers who pay with cash would face a 50 percent increase in September, to $12 a ride, from $8. Tolls would then rise by 75 cents more a year through 2015, with cash tolls rounded up to the nearest whole dollar.

The less-stringent increases are expected to be approved by the Port Authority’s board of commissioners at a meeting on Friday.

The authority had proposed a $4-a-ride increase for E-ZPass users next month, drawing criticism from drivers and some politicians — including, somewhat incongruously, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who jointly control the agency.

Toll increases at the Port Authority are often highly choreographed affairs, and few transportation groups expected the initial proposal to remain unchanged. Both governors had said they were surprised at the steepness of the initial proposal, although their administrations were made aware of the plan before it was publicly announced.

Both New York and New Jersey need the Port Authority to continue handling infrastructure improvements in the New York City metro area because both states' fiscal situation and taxpayer discontent isn't conducive to broad based tax hikes to support mass transit or infrastructure improvements. Thus, it was left up to the Port Authority to impose the higher charges.

The original proposal was unusually steep so as to make the Governors' proposal appear to be far more reasonable. Yet, it still represents real money that commuters will be forced to shell out. The new PATH fares will rise to $2 in September, and then by 25 cents each year after through 2015 ($2.75). That's likely to work out to a $10 a month increase on 40-trip pass. It also moves PATH closer to the MTA bus and subway fare parity, although PATH users do not have free transfers to the MTA system.

Where I can find agreement with the governors and Port Authority is that they impose additional penalties on all motor vehicles that do not use EZ-Pass. However, the Port Authority must do a better job making sure that those drivers who have EZ-Pass are not inconvenienced by the backup of drivers at the cash lanes as is all too frequent a problem. Increased use of EZ-Pass can help reduce congestion and pollution at toll plazas, but if the cash lanes back up, it can mitigate any congestion reductions caused by EZ-Pass use.

UPDATE:
The Port Authority board unanimously adopted the governors' proposed toll hikes. They will take effect in September.

Port Authority Closing In On Fare and Toll Hikes Despite Scathing Audit

Expect the Port Authority to go ahead and approve fare and toll hikes Friday even though New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a scathing audit finding that the Port Authority spent nearly $100 million on overtime, and that its average salary was well over $90,000 - and that includes its entire police force, which patrols bridges, tunnels, ports, and airports. Overtime flows like water.

The agency paid $85.7 million in overtime last year to 5,360 of its 6,977 employees, an audit by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found. The audit concluded that the agency failed to rein in extra pay, citing dozens of employees who made more in overtime than they did in base salary.

“Management has no clear strategy to achieve its own benchmarks and goals for curbing costs,” DiNapoli said. “Before the Port Authority asks for more money to fund its operations, the agency should take a long, hard look at whether its business model for managing overtime really makes sense.”

The agency issued a brief statement in response.

“The Port Authority just received this report and we take it very seriously,” agency officials said in a statement. “We will continue to cut costs and make sure we value every dollar as we work to meet the region’s needs.”

Part of the overtime conundrum is the result of the agency employing fewer people and requesting those that are on the payroll to do more. However, it appears that there's few hurdles to enabling PAPD officers from running up overtime that matches their base salaries.

The agency held hearings earlier this week, where it got an earful from commuters complaining about the 50%+ toll hike and a nearly 60% hike on PATH fares. It's almost a given that fares and tolls will rise, but it may come down to whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Chris Christie will limit the hikes what I expect to be half what the agency wants.

Christie is being coy about his position, mostly because it is New Jerseyeans who will bear the brunt of the costs, particularly at the bridges and tunnels between New Jersey and Manhattan.

One way to deal with Port Authority payroll issues is to eliminate the Port Authority police force and delegate the tasks to local police instead. As it is, the Port Authority has regular issues with NYPD interactions regarding security at Ground Zero and the World Trade Center complex before that. Memorandum of understandings have been issued from time to time setting out who is responsible for what, even though the facility is located in New York City. Let the NYPD patrol, and you can generate savings in that fashion. It can make the chain of command and responsibility for security far more difficult than it ought to be, but the Port Authority has its own fiefdom to protect.

The security can be picked up by New Jersey State Troopers or New York State Troopers at other border crossings, including the ports and airports.

Infrastructure improvements need to be fully funded, and key items need to be upgraded, but the Port Authority is also full of waste and projects it oversees have gone over budget, none more spectacularly so than the PATH transit hub at Ground Zero. Despite claims that it would contain costs, it has gone more than $1 billion over budget.

Second Avenue Subway In Jeopardy Over Lack of Financing

Once again, the oft-delayed Second Avenue Subway is in jeopardy for lack of financing to complete critical contracts for stations along the right of way. Contracts to build out subway stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street, and 96th Street are pending, and the MTA lacks the funds to make that happen.

The state legislature recessed without appropriating any additional money for the project (including for a payroll tax), which means that the MTA and taxpayers will once again have a tunnel to nowhere as happened the last time that the MTA attempted to get the project underway in the 1970s. Then, as now, the MTA was able to build a stretch of tunnel, but the project had to quit after the money ran out.

New York City and the state have reduced funding for the MTA over the past decade, and the MTA has not exactly been a good steward of its projects as costs have spiraled out of control on other key projects. Indeed, the bridges that the MTA oversees are in poor shape, and toll hikes that were meant to improve both mass transit and bridge conditions haven't reaped the promised improvements - particularly so for bridges and tunnels the condition of which is quite poor.

With the financing problems, perhaps the folks on the Upper East Side who are complaining about the dust and construction will find a much improved situation when the money runs out.

Misplaced NYC Infrastructure Priorities

Which is more important? Renaming the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and 59th Street Bridge to honor former Governor Hugh Carey and Mayor Ed Koch respectively, or finding funding to improve the Brooklyn Queens Expressway trench between Atlantic Avenue and the Battery Tunnel?

Well, it looks like the renaming is likely, while the BQE enhancement lacks the funding (starting at $10 million). The state legislature and City Council will have to vote to approve the naming changes, and if history is any guide, the cost to switch signs for each crossing will run around $4 million each (that's what the cost to rename the Triborough Bridge as the RFK Memorial Bridge).

The city and state are hoping to get private donations to cover the cost. Really?

How about skipping the naming rights and get the donations to improve the community life around the trench - new trees, screening, and pocket parks would help close the gap created when the highway was built below grade. It wouldn't be a perfect fix, but it would help lessen the effects of the highway on Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Columbia Street Waterfront.

This once again exposes the misplaced priorities. Focus on improving the actual infrastructure than paying for name changes that people end up ignoring. Construction of the highway destroyed neighborhood life and the EDC efforts to reduce noise, congestion, and pollution effects on the neighborhood would help improve the situation.

It is far more worthwhile than renaming bridges and tunnels.

Infrastructure Idiocy Abounds Among New York Politicians

It's astounding the sheer gall of Gov. David Paterson in calling on New Jersey to assist in financing the rebuilding of the Tappan Zee Bridge on the New York State Thruway.

At a time when New York couldn't be bothered with coming up with financing for the ARC tunnel to make sure that the interstate project gets completed - such as covering the potential cost overruns that might total anywhere from $1 billion to $5 billion, New Jersey is now being asked to help finance a project that is fully within New York's borders?

It's little wonder then that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie went postal on the idea.

Christie blasted Gov. Paterson's proposal to split the cost of rebuilding the deteriorating Tappan Zee Bridge - even though it doesn't extend into the Garden State.

"I can't make this any clearer to New York than this: Stop screwing with us," Christie told reporters. "You're not going to come and pick our pockets. New Jersey is not going to permit it anymore."

Under Team Paterson's proposal, responsibility for the bridge would be taken from the state Thruway Authority and transferred to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

No dice, Christie cried.

"I'm not inclined to extend the port region further into New York just to bite off a monstrous expense," Christie said.

The Paterson administration was "simply offering" an idea, a spokesman said.

The construction work is estimated to cost up to $16 billion.

He said New York officials years ago deliberately kept the bridge out of the Port Authority's control so the Empire State could keep the toll revenue.

"You want to keep all the money to yourself, then you pay for the cost yourself," Christie quipped.

Paterson recently reached out to Christie to discuss the idea, but wound up making his pitch to Jersey's lieutenant governor.

In pushing the idea, Paterson said rebuilding the bridge "might be too much for New York's finances and it might be too much for New Jersey."

The Tappan Zee bridge is operated by the Thruway Authority and the bridge is structurally deficit and in need of replacement. The state has known of this situation for years, and hasn't determined the replacement cost or the design of the replacement span, but they're looking to transfer it to the Port Authority? Is this a tacit acknowledgment that the Thruway Authority's bonding ability is tapped out? That's troublesome enough, but it isn't as though the Port Authority is in much better shape.

The difference here is that the Port Authority is a bistate agency and is supposed to handle joint projects between New York and New Jersey.

It also shows the limitations of the Port Authority as a development agency when the political interests of the two state governors differs. Expect a different position to be taken when Andrew Cuomo is sworn in as Governor in January as Cuomo and Christie are both on the same page regarding reining in the costs of governance and state spending that are crippling both states. If both governors can build on a working relationship, bistate projects are much more likely to get proposed and backed through completion.

UPDATE:
Gov. Paterson has to explain how the Port Authority is in a position financially to assist in the rebuilding of the Thruway Authority's Tappan Zee bridge when the Port Authority is cutting jobs and still trying to rebuild the World Trade Center.

Willis Avenue Bridge One Step Closer To Completion

One of the oldest bridges in New York City is one step closer to being replaced. The new Willis Avenue Bridge was moved into place earlier today alongside the old span, which will be deconstructed once the new bridge is completed.

The new bridge was built for the transportation department at a privately owned port in Coeymans, near Albany. Last month, a marine transportation crew loaded the finished span onto barges that were welded together for the 130-mile trip down the Hudson River to a dock in Bayonne, N.J. Two weeks later, the span was hauled from Bayonne 15 miles north through the East River to its final destination, where it was tied up to the shoreline near the existing bridge.

The last leg of the journey was via the East River because the load’s height, 82 feet from the barges’ decks to the bridge’s top crossbeam, was too tall for the low bridges over the narrow Harlem River.

While Mayor Bloomberg is touting that the City has spent more than $5 billion in the past several years replacing obsolete and deficient bridges, the City has several major spans that are in dire need of replacement - but those spans are on state-owned roads or are operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The city has more than 2,000 spans, and not all of them are in optimal condition.

Some projects are threatened by the ongoing budget problems in Albany, including the Alexander Hamilton bridge, while others are still in a planning phase.

Many other bridges, including those on the Belt Parkway are reaching the end of their operational life and are obsolete. Projects are underway to build new structures that meet current engineering and design standards.

These are worthy uses of limited state and local resources.

Bridge Crossing

New York City is undertaking a $600+ million rebuilding of the Willis Avenue Bridge that connects the Bronx with Manhattan not too far from Yankee Stadium. The new bridge wasn't built on site, but instead constructed entirely off-site in the upstate New York port of  Coeymans. The bridge was then floated down the Hudson River on two barges and stayed in Bayonne for two weeks getting additional work.

This morning, it was floated up the East River to where it will eventually be installed.

New York's newest bridge is crossing under one of New York's oldest (and certainly most recognizable bridge - the Brooklyn Bridge).