General Pulaski Skyway | |
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Looking east at Passaic River crossing, with Hackensack River bridge in background
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Coordinates | 40°44′09″N 74°05′30″W / 40.73583°N 74.09167°W |
Carries |
US 1/9 and Route 139 |
Crosses |
Passaic River Hackensack River New Jersey Meadowlands |
Locale | Jersey City, Kearny, and Newark, New Jersey, United States |
Maintained by | NJDOT |
ID number |
0901150 (Hudson County) |
Characteristics | |
Design | Steel deck truss cantilever bridge over Meadowlands Pratt truss for river crossings |
Total length | 3.502 mi (5.636 km) |
Width | 56 ft (17 m) |
Longest span | 550 ft (168 m) |
No. of spans | 118 |
Clearance above | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Clearance below | 135 ft (41 m) (for river crossings) |
History | |
Opened | November 24, 1932 |
Pulaski Skyway
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Location | US 1/9 between mileposts 51.25–54.55 |
Coordinates | 40°44′09″N 74°05′30″W / 40.73583°N 74.09167°W |
NRHP Reference # | 05000880 |
NJRHP # | 1526 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 12, 2005 |
Designated NJRHP | June 13, 2005 |
0901150 (Hudson County)
The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge-causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying a freeway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The landmark structure has a total length of 3.502 miles (5.636 km). Its longest bridge spans 550 feet (168 m). Traveling between Newark and Jersey City, the roadway crosses the Passaic and Hackensack rivers and Kearny Point, the peninsula between them.
Designed by Sigvald Johannesson, the Pulaski Skyway opened in 1932 as the last part of the Route 1 Extension, one of the first controlled-access highways or "super-highways" in the United States, to provide a connection to the Holland Tunnel. One of several major projects built during the reign of Hudson County political boss Frank Hague, its construction was a source of political and labor disputes. The viaduct is listed in the state and federal registers of historic places.
Unpredictable traffic congestion and its functionally obsolete design make the Skyway one of the most unreliable roads in the United States. As of 2014[update], the bridges handle about 74,000 crossings per day, none by trucks, which have been barred from the road since 1934. The bridges have been little altered. In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began a rehabilitation program, which it estimates will cost more than $1 billion. To facilitate the work, it closed the eastbound (northbound US 1/9) lanes for traffic on April 12, 2014, and expects to reopen them in the summer of 2017.