(The following article by Bonnie Friedman was posted on the Jersey Journal website on August 2.)
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The NJ Transit Board of Directors yesterday awarded a $3.3 million contract to a New York City-based company to conduct a study designed to alleviate delays and choking at the 96-year-old Amtrak Portal Bridge.
The environmental and engineering study will determine how best to increase rail capacity at the two-track swing bridge – which carries the Northeast Corridor over the Hackensack River just west of Secaucus Junction.
“Today’s action is another example of this board’s commitment to take meaningful steps to increase capacity, improve reliability and reduce delays for our customers,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner and Board Chairman Kris Kolluri.
NJ Transit will lead the project in a formal partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration and Amtrak.
The study will address the possibility of replacing the Portal Bridge with a new span to support up to twice as many trains; and elevating the span to reduce the number of openings for marine traffic, reducing resulting train delays.
Last month, a malfunction of the mechanism that locks the Portal Bridge in place for train crossings resulted in cancellation of 22 peak-period trains.
The study will be completed by late 2007, followed by design and construction.