West Hudson Bridge Closures To Impact Harrison Residents

Harrison and Newark residents can expect delays as bridge repairs are to begin between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the Jackson Street, Bridge Street/Harrison Avenue Bridge, and the Clay Street Bridge.  The County of Hudson and Essex jointly own the bridge and share the expenses of operation, maintenance, and repair.

There was no publication of a schedule or an announcement of a website or hotline to call to learn of when a specific bridge will be closed.  There were also no specifics about if the bridges will be closed completely or partially or closed for extended periods.  The only informative information was all three bridges would not be closed simultaneously.  The latter is good news because closing one bridge is bad enough.  Closing two or three bridges at the same time would be disastrous. 

The Press Release indicated that the project will cost just under 14 million dollars so that is over 4.5 million per bridge.  That is a significant amount of cash to spend on repairs.  It makes you wonder how much it costs to build an entirely new bridge if it costs 4.5 million to repair one bridge.

For those who use the bridges daily, we hope that Hudson County and Essex County insist that the contractor Sparwick Contracting of Lafayette, NJ provides its closure schedule to the community so that residents know when a specific bridge will be closed so they can make alternate travel plans.

Why the contractor is working on repairs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (6 hours) may mean that the bridges will be reopened for evening rush hour but there was no indication of the same by the joint press release by the County of Hudson and Essex.

If these are major repairs, they may require closure for an extensive period.  The Jackson Bridge was previously closed for years while it underwent repairs.  One wonders whether history will repeat itself.

Let Us Know Your Thoughts on the Bridge Closures on our Community Discussion Board.  If you have not signed up yet to participate you can Sign Up now. Sign Up for Free.