NEWS
Tunnels, Bridges & Terminals

149-98: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , October 29, 1998

$21.8 MILLION PROJECT TO EASE HOLLAND TUNNEL TRAFFIC FLOW -- Port Authority Board of Commissioners Authorizes Work to Improve Roads and Signs on the Tunnel's Western End


Westbound motorists exiting the Holland Tunnel onto Jersey City streets can expect a smoother ride with better traffic flow because of a $21.8 million roadway improvement project authorized today by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners.

The project will improve roadway surfaces, drainage, lighting and traffic signals and signage on Jersey City's 14th Street, the roadway leading out of the tunnel into New Jersey. The work will extend from the New Jersey exit of the Holland Tunnel to Jersey Avenue, and on Jersey Avenue between 12th and 14th streets in Jersey City.

Construction will begin in June 1999, with completion in December 2000.

In addition to improving the Holland Tunnel's westbound traffic flow, the project will help drivers and pedestrians crossing 14th Street. The work will improve drainage along 14th Street and Jersey Avenue, and serve pedestrians by providing new sidewalks and safety islands that accommodate wheelchairs.

"When completed, this project will make life easier for drivers using one of the main links connecting New Jersey and New York," said Lewis M. Eisenberg, Chairman of the Port Authority Board of Commissioners. "These improvements show the Port Authority's unflagging commitment to renewing and reinvigorating the transportation system on which the region's daily life and commerce depend."

Work will include:

-> repaving 14th Street between Luis Marin Boulevard and Jersey Avenue, and rehabilitating Jersey Avenue between 12th and 14th streets;

-> replacing signs, traffic signals and roadway lighting along 14th Street and Jersey Avenue; and

-> integrating the new 14th Street traffic signals with the existing signal system at 12th Street, to improve traffic flow.

Work will be completed during off-peak hours, at night and on weekends, to minimize the impact on drivers and pedestrians.

This project will minimize unplanned closings of 14th Street and Jersey Avenue to perform roadway and electrical repairs that would impact tunnel traffic. Also, the existing traffic signal and roadway lighting systems on 14th Street and Jersey Avenue, which have been operating since the early 1960s, have reached the end of their useful life and need to be replaced.

Fourteenth Street has served as the New Jersey exit roadway of the Holland Tunnel for 70 years.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has operated the Holland Tunnel since 1931. More than 17 million eastbound cars, buses and trucks used the tunnel last year.

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