Pulaski Skyway a sad tale of neglect and decline (Ledger Live video)

Ledger Live for April 11, 2014 - Ledger Live with Brian Donohue - The Pulaski Skyway, the three mile long elevated highway connecting New Jersey's two largest cities and the Holland Tunnel entrance to Manhattan is set to partially close for repairs for two years, creating a traffic nightmare of historic proportions. Donohue looks at the factors behind the closure, blaming the neglect of the nation's infrastructure on short-sighted voters and cowardly, self-serving politicians. (video by Brian Donohue / The Star-Ledger)

[@CowboyLou69]

In any other state, a parallel skyway would be built for eastbound traffic and the old Skyway rebuilt for the other direction. It's narrow lanes are really death traps.

[@CowboyLou69]

It would probably be wiser to replace it because it is so out dated with very narrow lanes and no shoulders. If you get a flat or break down it would be a nightmare. They've spent a fortune just patching it over the years. But this is NJ where the roads and bridges are in horrible condition through neglect.

[@j.barryarlington4621]

Problem with Raising the Gas Tax or Making it self serve, Is That money won't go to Bridges or Roads or anything other than the Politicians Pockets...

[@ruzzelladrian907]

Is there an explanation why politicians don't want to hire a private company to build and maintain infrastructure?

[@tswagg504]

I visited NY, but got a rental and drove around Jersey as well, first time being back to NJ since I was 4….this bridge was frightening to drive on as a first timer….I’m sure after a week going back and forth I’d get over it but sheesh

[@joeshmoe7789]

Why was it frightening?

[@tswagg504]

@@joeshmoe7789 It was a two way with no divider and no shoulder, and the lanes were narrow. I’m from the south so im used to having wider lanes and more driving space.

[@joeshmoe7789]

@@tswagg504 You don't need wide lanes, there are no trucks.

[@chriskolb3105]

Crazy steep, grated steel roadway, old as shit and falling apart. Narrow lanes with no divider or breakdown lanes, plus Jersey drivers.

[@tswagg504]

@@chriskolb3105 especially Jersey drivers lol

[@BigDaddy-ms7gm]

Maybe if we had a legislature and governor that were fiscally responsible NJ wouldn't be in this mess. Period!

[@thomasjordan3449]

It's corruption culminating in corrosion.

[@aaroncone6778]

Wow, you folks do things differently, than what they do up here in the State of Maine. When our Governor wants to hike the gas taxes, he gets his wish without much debate, but we also have one of the best bridge repair/replacement programs in the country.

[@feliciabaugher4032]

I was 7 yrs old when I first crossed the bridge when I used to visit my great aunt who lived in Jersey city and my mom's friend since then the bridge is one of my favorite"s especially the color. i"m glad to see they are not destroying it. I hope they keep the color.

[@markharder3676]

Color? You mean basic black, I suppose.

[@melodyhall6886]

This is so sad, I remember riding in my dad's 1966 Ford Galaxy, on this skyway. As a five year old ,it was so beautiful. Great memories ❤

[@robbyel3958]

It's beautiful again.

[@ChristopherCerta]

I would like to know where the toll money from the bridges and tunnels is going to? Think about it: how many multi-thousands of people are crossing into NYC alone every day, at $15 dollars per car. That is a whole lot of revenue.

[@imperatur]

Maaan, that breaks my heart.. such a cool bridge

[@parkwaypro9838]

Oh, it's a beautiful relic. I used to drive my bus route over that bridge all the time and was always in awe of it. I think it's my all-time favorite bridge. If I recall, I don't believe there was anything like it in the United States when it was built.

[@paulgoldberg575]

This is great!! I want to see more!

[@thegerm574]

I live in NYS and I can’t believe they still have cheaper gas and full service in NJ.

[@ChristopherCerta]

THE GERM That’s because we make it here.

[@trainman071]

whats wrong with having a 3 dollar toll along with commuter rates and passes? that alone would pay for the bridges maintenance

[@rockintetster]

Why in the world do you have any problem with taking money from the port authority to do this project? The Pulaski skyway is an alternate route for the Holland Tunnel the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge as it carries U.S. Routes 1 and 9. It is completely justifiable to use that argument to get Port Authority Funds.

[@jeffreyhonafius1264]

well said. we want things done, but not willing to pay for them. also its the politicians fault for kicking the can down the roaf

[@opticledilusi0n]

It's not a matter of oh just raise the gas tax. We are taxed to death in Jersey. If they could lighten the taxes everywhere else, I'd happily pay more gas tax.

[@mdteletom1288]

Spoken like a true New Jerseyan who won't pay a few cents tax on toilet paper like every other state does to reduce his $10K a year property tax bill.

[@Vinny339]

@@mdteletom1288 Can you stfu, overall New Jersey has the 6th highest taxes our of our great 50 frickin states when you combine taxes.

[@mdteletom1288]

@@Vinny339 Ok guess things are getting better. When I lived there NJ was number one. Now why don't you try to STFU for a while.

[@robbyel3958]

This video should be updated. Since airing this bridge has been completely revamped.

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

And it's still a deathtrap!

[@robbyel3958]

@@user-uo7fw5bo1o I've been driving that bridge for 40 years and this is the safest it's ever been.

[@TrainsFerriesFeet]

Even in the 60s and 70s, when I was a kid, I hated when my mom took the Skyway. Otherwise, public transportation is so much cheaper than building and maintaining highways.

[@rayfridley6649]

Wasn't the Polaski Skyway a toll bridge at one time? With the high cost to renovate, why not erect a toll plaza and charge toll again?

[@MontgomeryMall]

No, the Pulaski Skyway was never tolled.

[@rwboa22]

@@MontgomeryMall, same with the Scudders Fall Bridge near Trenton, until recently. A $5.00 one way (towards NYC) toll under private-public ownership could have taken care of that, although what would have even be more beneficial would...and I hate to say this...would have been to replace the original Skyway with a new one much like the NY Thruway Authority replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge and the Port Authority replacing the Goethals Bridge (with future plans to do the same with the Outerbridge Crossing).

[@UQRXD]

Stop saying raise taxes they are all to high now!

[@bundyrivera7162]

Grew up near this bridge. I honestly feel it helped me drive better. Lol

[@walterspringer565]

Back during my working career 1971-2006, I often wondered why the skyway was tollfree while the Hudson tunnel tolls were astronomical.

[@leahlabrador3836]

This is the scariest bridge I have crossed!!!

[@circleinforthecube5170]

for some reason this thing is historical, we wont give historical preservation status to significant and beautiful 1970s buildings less than 10 years away from being historical but we give it to a decaying deathtrap from the 30s because tony soprano used it to grab some gabagool, its like preserving a generic 1920s foursqaure over a mies van de rohe or frank lloyd wright because its old despite the older building not looking as good, some basic bitch 1800s house or rotting 30s skyway shouldn't get the same preservation status as a actually significant and noteworthy and beautiful building from the 1800s just because "its old", its no empire state

[@jpolar394]

It's truly amazing that the port authority didn't figure out a way to get their filthy mits on this bridge to put a toll on it.

[@matsalvatore9074]

If they did itd look good

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

If they had it would have been maintained.

[@waltg206]

Spelling challenges: At 1:20 the green sign says TONELLE AVE, and at 1:39 and 1:54 the green sign says TONNELE AVE

[@DeFazioNJ]

To love the Skyway is to try and master the art of breaking your own practical records with 70 mph runs (posted speed is 45 and we're not trying to drive into the Hackensack here, don't speed, kids) on this narrow roller coaster of a relic from the Depression every time you drive it. You were always a bit uneasy about its stability so you wanted to get over it as quickly as possible, and with no cops it's as close as you'll get to flying over the Meadowlands. (For the sake of pettiness, shout out those drivers in cars with New York and Pennsylvania plates that create a good part of the misery yet want no part of the responsibility as to why NJ roads are a bit too crowded.) At least now this beautiful structure is finally preserved for at least a few more generations, and now the speed runs will be purely for fun.

[@markharder3676]

I grew up in Union Co. mostly, so the PS featured in my life. It was how we got to my grandparents in Jersey City, for example, and the Holland Tunnel. Believe it or not, long after I moved out, I had a dream about the Skyway. There was nobody on the road but me. As I approached the bridge from the W. an orchestral arrangement of Dido's Lament from Purcell''s opera "Dido and Aeneas" played (somewhere). A dream of the Pulaski Skyway with a classical score by a 17th C. English composer! I had a lot of bridge dreams in those days. Actually, when I was younger also. But none of them had background music. Only the PS deserved its own music. It must have some deep spiritual meaning for me; though what, I don't know. Where else but Jersey can bridges be a religious experience, I guess...

[@joeshmoe7789]

The Lincoln Tunnel is only about 1 mile and a half away.

[@sonnypruitt6639]

What happened to the 860 billion dollars Obama pushed thru? The stimulus package, and the shovel ready jobs.

[@ChristopherCerta]

Sonny Pruitt Good point: I think that went into someone’s pocket.

[@mattyian1208]

Sonny Pruitt Obama caused the economic recession

[@Rainman00000]

4 years to renovate a cruddy, obsolete bridge. Great work.

[@DeFazioNJ]

lol you REALLY think replacing it was more feasible? You're not from around here, are you? (Or you are and you have zero concept of what the land acquisition alone would cost.)

[@Rainman00000]

Matthew DeFazio Dont pull strawman arguments, when did i ever say to build a new one? Ask yourself why a structurally deficient bridge takes 4 years to renovate. I'm not singling out Jersey, crappy infrastructure and boondongles like this renovation project are the reasons why other countries are advancing far along while our crap infrastructure is literally falling apart.

[@Rainman00000]

Matthew DeFazio What a provincialist remark. Are you implying there needs to be a residency requirement to comment on Jersey affairs? For the record I was thirty year resident of this state and occasionally visit relatives in north jersey. 4 years to renovate an obsolete bridge is unacceptable by any reasonable standard.

[@smartyjones7459]

Hey Knucklehead Smith... The skyway is over 3 1/2 miles long... do tell us where you got your engineering degree from...

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

0:50 you mean 4 years lol

[@catherineizaguirre2921]

I was about to say the same thing

[@bridgediscovery1011]

This bridge needs to replaced with something new

[@melodyhall6886]

No just need some TLC ❤

[@Bill_Oddie_Face_Mask]

We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. If the government cut out redundancies, increased privatization, cut salaries and pensions for the bureaucrats, break up monopolies and loosened regulations to allow new entrants to come in and lower prices in critical sectors, there would be more than enough revenue to adequately maintain infrastructure. Raising taxes while doing nothing else just funnels more money into the politicians’ pockets, and encourages more reckless spending practices.

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

Because it doesn't work in the U.S.! I live in a city with a privatized transit system (just busses and trolleys) and its operations deserve an 'F'. Part of the problem is that the entity that secured the low bid now enjoys a monopoly, through competitive tenders that receive only one bidder.

[@Jhihmoac]

So when does it get fixed? Does it happen after this one-of-a-kind structure collapses and kills a few people - as per the usual infrastructure protocols in the US?

[@CowboyLou69]

The U. S. has government by crisis. Disaster happen and then something is fixed.

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

It got fixed. Mileage Mike drove over it and put a video up about it.

[@jmunj]

great song!!! The Replacements!

[@jamessimms415]

Wow, people rejected abolishing mandatory full service gas pumps because they’re too lazy to pump their own gas. Guess protecting jobs is paramount to a path to better infrastructure.

[@eclipsedmind6284]

great stuff man

[@user-uo7fw5bo1o]

In any other state the skyway would have been upgraded to an interstate or a toll road: either a twin would be built and then the old skyway refurbished or the whole thing would be demolished and built new to conform to federal standards. And seriously which lame brain thought it was a good idea to have the ramps to/from the surface exit from and enter into the high speed lanes with no proper accel/decel lanes? Those should have been closed permanently.

[@michaelcrockette8694]

well they raised the gas tax and the tolls eventually anyway.

[@user-is1mo5oo9p]

Oh but we can send $billions to send to the Ukraine!

[@matsalvatore9074]

Gas tax would not matter. Polls will fix it

[@thomashendershot1846]

WELL when was the bridge built? Then add Gov. waste and corruption. And big pockets.

[@CowboyLou69]

I think the late 1920s.

[@mattyian1208]

Early 1930s

[@rjmcallister1888]

Youse gets whatchas pays for.