Port Authority officials unveiled Tuesday the elevated roadway that was built as part of the Bayonne Bridge expansion project. But Bayonne residents who live near the bridge say that the years-long project has been burdensome in their daily lives.
"Just the amount of noise disruption, the disruption of my life...issues with no sleep, waking up in the middle of the night," says Bayonne resident Brian Cotter.
Cotter says that his home on Margaret Street has been rattled constantly by the construction.
"When I bought the house, I bought next to a bridge, but didn't expect a project to rebuild the bridge," he says.
Construction began in mid-2013 to raise the roadway and make space for larger cargo ships that can now fit through the Panama Canal. The hope is to get those ships, and their business, to New Jersey ports.
Cotter says he doubts that the project will hit the 2019 deadline and expects it to take a lot longer.
"Hopefully when it's done, it will be good for the ports, good for the workers down there," he says. "Hopefully our neighborhood can return to a nice quiet area."
Port Authority officials say that drivers can expect to be using the upper roadway by the second quarter of 2017. The agency also says the lower roadway will be dismantled by late 2017.