Goethals Bridge, NY/NJ Port Authority behind the times

Posting from the American Shipper: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has unveiled preliminary renderings for a new bridge to replace the 80-year-old Goethals Bridge, one of three crossings that connect New York's Staten Island to New Jersey.
The others are the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing.
The agency said the current bridge is in need of major rehabilitation and frequently causes congestion due to its antiquated, narrow design.
The new, cable-stayed bridge would have six 12-foot-wide lanes with full shoulders in both directions and a sidewalk/bikeway. There is also room for a future mass transit link.
The current bridge has four 10-foot-wide lanes without shoulders, so even minor traffic mishaps often cause major delays.

The current bridge deck with narrow lanes and no shoulder.

Rendering showing the increased number of lanes, the wider lanes and the added shoulder.

The New York Container Terminal at Howland Hook is located just north of the bridge, and trucks draying cargo to and from the terminal pass over the Goethals Bridge. The Port Authority and New York last year completed rehabilitation of a separate rail bridge that serves the container terminal.
The renderings show the new bridge located to the south of the existing bridge location, which was the port authority's original proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard at the beginning of the Environmental Impact Statement. Alternative alignments with the new bridge on the north side of the existing bridge also are being evaluated.
The agency's preliminary plan aims to begin awarding construction contracts in 2011, with bridge completion in 2015.
The port authority's 10-year capital plan earmarks $1 billion for the project. The final cost estimates for the project have not been determined as the design process is still in its early stages.



My Opinion:
I think the NYNJ PA is too late with their plan for a new bridge. By the time this bridge is built and the Bayonne Bridge is reconstructed the East Coast surge volume will have found other ports to fill. A region must be ahead of the curve, and by that I mean have the foresight to eliminate any obstacles that reduces the capacity of its port. The Goethals bridge and the Bayonne Bridge limit the size vessels that can call the NY/NJ Ports because of the air draft restrictions they create.

As soon as the Panama Canal expansion is completed, Carriers will be adding much large TEU vessels to their US East Coast fleets and these vessels will not be able to fit into the New York Harbor. Are Carriers going to modify their vessels so they can fit under the bridges. I strongly doubt it.