In what may be a harbinger of the future, a small 15 percent increase in container volume at a cargo terminal near Bayonne NJ has wreaked havoc on the surrounding community, causing traffic to come to a standstill on nearby highways.
In anticipation of increasing container imports, the Global Marine Terminal has more than doubled its container handling capacity from 500,000 to 1.1 million containers per year.
Questions:
- Raising the Bayonne Bridge to accommodate the New Panamax mega container ships will cost about $1 billion.
- How many more truck trips a day will be required to unload these new 13,000 container ships?
- What impact has this small increase in container volume and resulting traffic congestion had on air quality in nearby communities?
- How much worse will congestion and air pollution be in communities near the Ports of New York and New Jersey after the Bayonne Bridge has been raised?
- What will it cost to upgrade the regional road network to handle the increased traffic?
If you can answer either of these questions, please post a comment!
For background:
Port Authority to get tough on truckers that tie up Turnpike Extension traffic NJ.com