Governor
McGreevey announced the award of an $84 million construction
contract to PKF-Mark III, Inc. of Newtown, PA. to build
a new bridge beside the existing span of the Driscoll
Bridge that carries the Garden State Parkway over the
Raritan River.
A
second contract for inspecting and coordinating construction
of the new bridge and approaches was awarded to DMJM
& Harris of Iselin for $9.5 million. The older span
will be fully refurbished.
The
final cost for the bridges is $230 million. When all
phases of the project are completed, the Driscoll Bridge
will carry eight full size travel lanes northbound,
seven lanes southbound with shoulders in each direction,
up from six narrow travel lanes in each direction with
no shoulders. The project is expected to be completed
by 2005.
The
Governor said the actions mark the "beginning of
a long-awaited project to provide relief to the hundreds
of thousand of New Jersey drivers who cross the Driscoll
Bridge every day."
"It
also clearly demonstrates the value of Project Labor
Agreements in saving taxpayer dollars - in this instance
nearly $25 million in savings that can now be spent
on other vital maintenance projects to the state's transportation
infrastructure, " he said.
More
than 80 million vehicles a year travel to and from the
northern part of the state to points south along the
Jersey Shore. This major commuter and tourism artery
is in need of major repairs and the scene of acute congestion.
A quarter of those cars use the bridge to access the
Turnpike.
In
April, Governor McGreevey announced an historic and
unprecedented interagency agreement between the New
Jersey Highway Authority and the New Jersey Turnpike
Authority wherein the Turnpike would contribute approximately
$135 million to pay for the reconstruction of the bridge.
The
Highway Authority, which operates the Parkway, will
provide approximately $40 million.
The
Driscoll Bridge carries six narrow travel lanes each
northbound and southbound with no shoulders. The structure
is both structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.
The deck of the existing northbound bridge has severely
deteriorated and is in need of replacement. Pieces of
concrete have been fallen on the ground below and holes
have appeared in the deck of the bridge.
The
bridge is named for Governor Alfred E. Driscoll who
was at the helm of New Jersey state government when
the first cars began using the New Jersey Turnpike and
when the shovels went into the ground to build the Garden
State Parkway.
