The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announced that southbound traffic on the Pulaski Skyway is scheduled to be shifted on to two sections of the newly completed northbound lanes beginning Monday, April 4, as the rehabilitation of the historic 84-year-old bridge advances.
The Skyway will be closed in both directions this weekend to set up the crossover and to install deck panels on other spans.
Beginning Monday morning, southbound traffic will be shifted to the northbound lanes in two places – the first shift will take place before the Broadway Ramp and continue to just before the bridge span over the Hackensack River where traffic will be shifted back to the southbound lanes. The second shift will move traffic from the southbound lanes back to the newly constructed northbound lanes just past the Passaic River span through the end of the Skyway where traffic will merge back on to Routes 1&9 southbound.
Motorists are reminded to slow down and use caution as they get accustomed to the new traffic pattern. As more of the northbound lanes are completed, additional traffic shifts will be implemented.
Raymond Boulevard Exit Closure
In conjunction with the second crossover at the west end of the Skyway, the Raymond Boulevard exit in Newark will be closed for the duration of the project. The following detour will be in place:
Raymond Boulevard Exit Detour
Southbound Skyway traffic will continue on Route 1&9 southbound to the Wilson Avenue Exit. Motorists will need to be in the local lanes and then take Wilson Avenue eastbound past the New Jersey Turnpike to Doremus Avenue northbound to Raymond Boulevard.
Full Weekend Closure
In order to establish the crossover, NJDOT’s contractor, CCA Civil Inc., is scheduled to close the Skyway in both directions beginning at 11 p.m. Friday, April 1 through 5 a.m. Monday, April 4 at the off-ramp to I-280/Route 7 and Route 1&9 southbound.
The full closure includes most on and off ramps, including the southbound on ramp from Tonnele Circle. The ramp from the Route 139 westbound to I-280/Route 7 and Route 1&9 southbound will remain open. NJDOT has created a video that shows options for alternate routes to help motorists navigate the closures, which can be found on the NJDOT YouTube channel.
The following detours will be in place:
Southbound Traffic (toward Newark):
Leaving the Holland Tunnel, motorists will have the following options:
• Stay to the far right and take the NJ Turnpike-Hudson County Extension to all destinations west and south, including I-78.
• Stay to the left and follow signs for Route 139 West, then stay left to Route 1&9 Truck southbound towards Newark, Route 7 and I-280.
• Motorists should avoid the ramp from Route 139/Covered Roadway that leads into the Tonnele Circle because of expected heavy congestion.
Local Traffic for Jersey City:
• Stay to the middle to take Route 139 Upper Roadway and follow signs to Kennedy Boulevard/Jersey City, to best access many local Jersey City locations and other points north (Secaucus).
Northbound Traffic (toward Jersey City):
Northbound traffic will continue to utilize the same Skyway alternate routes that have been in effect since the northbound lanes were closed last year:
Turnpike-Hudson County Extension
Route 1&9 Truck northbound
Communipaw Avenue to access local Jersey City Locations.
NJDOT created a project-specific website – www.pulaskiskyway.com – which contains a wealth of information about the Skyway and the project, and will be updated with relevant new information as work progresses. The Department is carefully coordinating the Pulaski Skyway project with other regional transportation infrastructure projects to minimize traffic congestion.
The Department has a project hotline telephone number, 973-776-7400, and email, Pulaski.Skyway@dot.nj.gov. Anyone who has questions, concerns or suggestions is encouraged to contact the Project Outreach Team as work progresses.
NJDOT will be using Variable Message Signs to provide advance notification to motorists of traffic pattern changes associated with the work.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.