Outerbridge Crossing

The Outerbridge Crossing is a cantilever bridge which spans the Arthur Kill. The "Outerbridge", as it is commonly known, connects Perth Amboy, New Jersey, with the New York City borough of Staten Island and carries NY 440 and NJ 440, each road ending at the respective state border. The Outerbridge Crossing is one of three bridges connecting New Jersey with Staten Island, with the Bayonne Bridge (which also carries NJ 440 and NY 440) in Bayonne and the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth being the other two.

Description and history

The bridge was named for Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge, the first chairman of the then-Port of New York Authority and a resident of Staten Island. Rather than call it the "Outerbridge Bridge", the span was labeled a "crossing", but many New Yorkers and others mistakenly assume the name comes from the fact that it is the most remote bridge in New York City and the southernmost crossing in New York state.

The bridge is of a steel cantilever construction, designed by John Alexander Low Waddell and built under the auspices of the Port of New York Authority, now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which currently operates it. It opened simultaneously with the Goethals Bridge on June 29, 1928. Both spans have similar designs. Neither bridge saw high traffic counts until the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964. Traffic counts on both bridges were also depressed due to the effects of the Great Depression and World War II.

In recent years, the bridge has undergone numerous repair jobs as a result of the high volume of traffic that crosses the bridge each day. On October 11, 2013, the Port Authority announced the completion of the bridge's repavement project.

Tolls and traffic

The Outerbridge Crossing carried 32,438,000 vehicles (both directions) in 2006, or approximately 90,000 each day. Tolls are collected in the eastbound direction only.

In 2003, the Port Authority raised the speed limit for the three inner E-ZPass lanes at the toll plaza from 15 to 25 miles per hour (25 to 40 km/h), separating these lanes from the rest of the eight-lane toll plaza by a barrier. Two years later, the tollbooths adjacent to the 25 mph E-ZPass lanes were removed and overhead gantries were installed with electronic tag readers to permit E-ZPass vehicles to travel at 45 miles per hour (70 km/h) in special high-speed lanes. Motorists using the high-speed E-ZPass lanes cannot use Exit 1 to Page Avenue, which is located immediately after the toll plaza.

As of December 7, 2014, the cash tolls going from New Jersey to New York are $14 for cars and motorcycles; there is no toll for passenger vehicles going from New York to New Jersey. E-ZPass users are charged $9.75 for cars and $8.75 for motorcycles during off-peak hours (outside of 6â€"10 a.m. and 4â€"8 p.m. on the weekdays; and outside of 11 a.m.â€"9 p.m. on the weekends) and $11.75 for cars and $10.75 for motorcycles during peak hours (6â€"10 a.m. and 4â€"8 p.m. on the weekdays; and 11 a.m.â€"9 p.m. on the weekends).

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York

References

External links

• Port Authority: Outerbridge Crossing
• Outerbridge Crossing Historic Overview at Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-304, "Outerbridge Crossing Bridge"

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