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The Commissioner's Report

(archived)

New contract to provide relief
for users of Parkway's Driscoll Bridge


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.
 
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  Department of Transportation
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  Last Updated:  January 21, 2005