Route 3 Bridge (Hackensack River)

Route 3 Bridge refers to a pair of vehicular bridges over the Hackensack River in Secaucus and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Located in the immediate vicinity of the Meadowlands Sports Complex at milepost 8.50 of New Jersey Route 3, the downstream bridge carries eastbound traffic while the upstream bridge carries westbound traffic.^[1] The bridges are often congested, due in part to the distance from other crossings of the river.^[2]

Route 3 over the Hackensack

Route 3 east

Route 3 (eastbound)
Coordinates	40°47′55″N 74°8′14.35″W
Carries	New Jersey Route 3
Crosses	Hackensack River
Locale	Secuacus and East Rutherford
Owner	New Jersey Department of Transportation
Maintained by	NJDOT
ID number	0204151
Characteristics
Design	Pratt Truss
Material	Concrete and steel
Total length	1,552.2 feet (473.1 m)
Width	60 feet (18 m) (deck)
Height	17.2 feet (5.2 m)
Longest span	185 feet (56 m)
No. of spans	14
History
Opened	1934
Location

The bridge (NJ ID number 0204152)^[3] is camelback through truss with a total length of 1,552.2 feet (473.1 m) and a deck width of 60 feet (18 m).^[4] It is 7.7 mies from the river's mouth.^[5] It was built circa 1934 as a bascule bridge, raised with a fixed span in 1964,^[6] and rehabilitated in 2011.^[7][8]

The bridge, using National Bridge Inventory standards, is 'structurally deficient' and is slated to be replaced. In 2022, state transportation commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti described the then-88-year-old bridge as being "in the worst condition of any in the state." Funding for the $143 million new span is in part funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The project will incorporate provision for a potential future expansion of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, ostensibly between Secaucus Junction rail hub and the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Announced in January 2022, construction is projected to begin in 2024.^[9][10]

Route 3 west

Route 3 westbound bridge

40°48′02″N 74°04′01″W

The bridge (NJ ID number 0204151)^[3] is also dedicated as the Medgar Evers Bridge. It was built in 1963 and rehabilitated in 2011.^[7]

See also

• List of crossings of the Hackensack River

References

1. "Route 3 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
2. "Route 3". The New Yorker. 9 February 2004.
3. "NEW JERSEY HIGHWAY CARRYING BRIDGES Attachment # 2 – Structurally Deficient Bridges (All Bridges)" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
4. "Hackensack River NJ 3 Bridge (EB)". Bridgehunter.com.
5. United States Coast Pilot: Atlantic Coast. Cape Cod to Sandy Hook (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) (Report). U.S. Government Printing Office. 1933.
6. "NEW JERSEY HISTORIC BRIDGE DATA" (PDF). NJDOT. 1994. p. 192. Retrieved January 27, 2022. The bridge carries a 4-lane one-directional highway over a major river in the Meadowlands. The viaduct is composed of a rivet-connected Pratt thru truss main span and 13 deck plate girder approach spans all supported on concrete piers. The entire superstructure was raised by concrete extensions to the piers in 1963. The truss span was constructed at that time to replace a double leaf bascule span.
7. "NJDOT to reconstruct Route 3 bridges over Hackensack River" (Press release). NJDOT. February 4, 2011.
8. "Hackensack River Bridge". Bridgehunter.com.
9. Wilson, Colleen (January 25, 2022). "Route 3 Bridge, one of the most dilapidated in NJ, will get $143M replacement". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
10. Maher, Jake (January 25, 2022). "Pols announce $143 million Route 3 bridge over Hackensack River and talk of light rail, too". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2022.