Tom Krosnowski

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Apr 7, 2025, 5:43 AM

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Updated

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Bayonne city officials are balancing two projects aimed at improving the commuter experience - the $11 billion Turnpike extension and the long-awaited Bayonne ferry terminal.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is moving ahead with plans to replace the Newark Bay Bridge - the nearly-70-year-old structure that gets drivers from the Turnpike into Manhattan through Bayonne.

“It’s lived its life,” said Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis. “It can no longer handle the heavy traffic, it can no longer handle the weight.”

The new bridge would double the lanes on each side to four, which Davis says is essential for commuters to New York City and the local shipping jobs critical to Bayonne’s economy.

“You’re sitting in traffic,” Davis said. “There are days, it’ll take you 20 minutes just to get through the toll, and it could take you anywhere from a half hour to 40 minutes to get over the bridge. I don’t know a point in my life that they weren’t fixing the roadway on that bridge, except for now.”

There’s also a second project underway that could mark a sea change in the city’s transit. In February, Davis agreed to purchase a piece of land from the Port Authority to build the long-awaited Bayonne ferry terminal. At $4.4 million, it’s a major investment aimed at getting commuters from Bayonne to Manhattan in a fraction of the time.

“It’s an economic game-changer for the City of Bayonne by having this ferry,” Davis said. “I’m expecting people to be coming over the bridge and, instead of going into Jersey City to get onto the PATH Train to go to Manhattan, they’ll get off at exit 14A and come to the ferry and take a nine-minute ferry ride.”

City Council is expected to approve a ferry operator next month, with a target launch late this year using a temporary facility.

“I’ve been talking about it for so long, it actually drives me crazy!” Davis said. “You talk about public transportation, these are things we need to start working on.”