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Driscoll Bridge
Driscoll Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Driscoll Bridge (left) and the Edison Bridge (right). | |
| Coordinates | 40°30′33″N 74°18′05″W / 40.5093°N 74.3013°W / 40.5093; -74.3013Coordinates: 40°30′33″N 74°18′05″W / 40.5093°N 74.3013°W / 40.5093; -74.3013 |
| Carries | 15 lanes of  G.S. Parkway |
| Crosses | Raritan River |
| Locale | Woodbridge and Sayreville, Middlesex County, New Jersey |
| Maintained by | New Jersey Turnpike Authority |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Box girder bridge |
| History | |
| Architect | Robinson & Steinman |
| Opened | July 30, 1954 |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | $1.50 (Southbound only) |
The Driscoll Bridge is a toll bridge (a series of three spans) on the Garden State Parkway in the U.S. state of New Jersey spanning the Raritan River near its mouth in Raritan Bay. The bridge connects the Middlesex County communities of Woodbridge Township on the north with Sayreville on the south. With a total of 15 travel lanes and 6 shoulder lanes, it is the widest motor vehicle bridge in the world by number of lanes[1] and one of the world's busiest.
Contents
1 History
2 Murder on the bridge
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
History
The northbound lanes of the bridge were opened to the public without fanfare on July 30, 1954.[2] The bridge was formally renamed in 1974 for former Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, who advocated for and oversaw the construction of the Garden State Parkway, as well as for the New Jersey Turnpike.[3]
The original span was built with two lanes in each direction. A second span was added in 1972, with each span serving five lanes of traffic.[3]
The bridge had very narrow lanes which created traffic bottlenecks for miles in each direction on the Garden State Parkway, until it was widened.[4] The original configuration was four twelve-foot lanes with shoulders. This was then widened to eight twelve-foot lanes with shoulders. The shoulders on each side were then converted to travel lanes, resulting in a total of ten twelve-foot lanes.[citation needed] Finally, the bridge was restriped to have twelve ten-foot lanes, six in each direction.[4]
Construction on a new southbound bridge started on September 25, 2002 and the new bridge opened to traffic on May 3, 2006.[5] The existing span was then closed for rehabilitation and it reopened on May 20, 2009. The new configuration has seven southbound lanes on the newly constructed span, and the original span has eight northbound lanes and carries northbound traffic only. The northbound span is also divided, with four lanes on each side. The left side of the northbound span contains four lanes for through traffic on the Parkway, and the right side of the northbound span contains three lanes going into Exit 127 of the Parkway and one lane for through traffic.[6] The Driscoll Bridge is now the world's widest bridge, in terms of total number of travel lanes (15 total).
The toll charged for this bridge (due south) is not for the bridge itself but rather a toll for driving on the Garden State Parkway; The toll was 35 cents each way until September 2004 when it was doubled from 35 to 70 cents for southbound cars only. Then the toll was increased to $1.00 from December 2008 to December 2011 (first phase of the toll increase) and then it was increased to $1.50 on January 2012 to present (second phase of the toll increase) to southbound traffic after passing the bridge. This along with many other Parkway toll plazas, has been converted to one-way in an effort to reduce traffic congestion. The speed limit on the Garden State Parkway is 45 mph between Milepost 126.7 and 127.7, approaching and traversing the Driscoll Bridge.[7]
Murder on the bridge
On February 17, 2010, Shamshiddin Abdur-Raheem was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his daughter by throwing her off the bridge.[8][9] The body of an infant matching the girl's description was found on the south bank of the Raritan River on April 24 and was later identified as the missing girl through DNA testing.[10]
See also
- List of crossings of the Raritan River
References
^ "Garden State Parkway opens world's widest bridge - 15 lanes". TOLLROADSnews, Peter Samuel. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2011-06-06..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "New Garden State Link. Raritan Bridge Is Opened for Northbound Traffic". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 31, 1954. Retrieved 2009-03-18.The New Jersey Highway Authority today opened a new link in the Garden State Parkway -- the high-level bridge over the Raritan River for northbound traffic.
^ ab Next phase of Driscoll Bridge plan set to start, The Star-Ledger, March 22, 2007. "The original bridge was built in 1955 with two lanes in each direction, but in 1972, with Shore traffic increasing rapidly, a second span was built that created a bridge with five lanes in each direction. In 1974, former Gov. Thomas W. Driscoll was on hand as a plaque was unveiled officially renaming the bridge for him. Driscoll was governor from 1947 to 1954 and ordered construction of both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway."
^ ab Driscoll Bridge project advances with today's action by Turnpike board, New Jersey Department of Transportation press release dated April 20, 2002. Accessed December 13, 2008.
^ Bridge to open fully on Wednesday - Project completed ahead of schedule, Asbury Park Press, May 2, 2006
^ Driscoll Bridge opening[permanent dead link] May 20, 2009
^ New Jersey Turnpike Authority Regulations Relating to the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, Effective December 9, 2004 (PDF), accessed July 5, 2006 Archived January 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
^ N.J. man gets life in prison for throwing baby daughter off bridge Nov 07, 2012
^ N.J. man tells police he tossed baby off bridge Feb 17, 2010
^ DNA tests match baby thrown from Driscoll Bridge Archived October 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. May 3, 2010.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Driscoll Bridge. |
- The History and Technology of the Edison Bridge & Driscoll Bridge
Bridges of the Raritan River | ||||
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