Carries 4 lanes of Route 7 Official name Wittpenn Bridge ID number 0909150 Opened 5 November 1930 Location Jersey City | Crosses Hackensack River Other name(s) Route 7 Bridge Construction started 1927 Height 43 m Daily traffic 50,000 | |
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Locale Jersey City and Kearny, New Jersey Maintained by New Jersey Department of Transportation Similar Pulaski Skyway, Lower Hack Lift, Lincoln Highway Hackens, Upper Hack Lift, Newark and New York Railr | ||
The Wittpenn Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge that carries New Jersey Route 7 over the Hackensack River connecting Kearny and Jersey City, New Jersey. It is named after H. Otto Wittpenn, a former mayor of Jersey City. The bridge comprises four 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) lanes, extending 2,169 feet (661 m) and standing 35 feet (11 m) above mean high water with a 209-foot (64 m) main lift span. Bridge construction commenced in 1927, and it was opened to vehicular traffic on November 5, 1930. The bridge has an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of nearly 50,000 vehicles, including about 2,000 trucks.
When raised, the bridge provides 100 feet (30 m) of clearance for ships. Raising the lift span takes 15 minutes. In 2005, the bridge was raised to accommodate 80 boats passing underneath.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is replacing the Wittpenn Bridge and all its approach ramps (including connections to U.S. Route 1/9), a project estimated to cost $600 million, funded by federal dollars. The first phase of construction began in July 2011, and the overall project is expected to take 11 years to complete. The new bridge will be situated just north of the existing bridge.
The reconstruction of the bridge is being partially funded by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and it will be fully operational in 2021.
Once completed, the bridge will carry the East Coast Greenway, a long-distance biking and walking trail.
