Who should pay to extend Staten Island Rapid Transit across the Bayonne Bridge?
Bayonne Bridge via Wiki Commons
Something else was missing from recent news that cost for reconstruction of the Bayonne Bridge has now grown between $350 to $400 million from $1.3 to between $1.65 and $1.7 billion. Ongoing work is two years behind schedule. This past fall was the 89th anniversary of the ground breaking for construction of the Bayonne Bridge. At that time, the New Jersey Transit Commission was making plans to also construct a transit connection between Staten Island and New Jersey. The concept was to extend the Staten Island Rapid Transit system across the Bayonne Bridge. It would connect with a new rapid transit line to run from Fort Lee New Jersey, adjacent to Hudson River south to Bergen Point in Bayonne. The Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island would be built with four lanes but with the capacity to add either three additional lanes for traffic or two additional lanes to support mass transportation.
