Pulaski Skyway

The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge and causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying a freeway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of around 3.5 miles (5.6 km). Its longest bridge spans 550 feet (168 m). Traveling between Newark and Jersey City, the roadway crosses the Passaic and Hackensack rivers, the Kearny Point peninsula between them, and the New Jersey Meadowlands. Designed by Sigvald Johannesson, the General Casimir Pulaski Skyway opened in 1932 as the last part of the Route 1 Extension, one of the first freeways or "super-highways" in the United States, to provide a connection to the Holland Tunnel. One of several major projects built during the reign of Hudson County political boss Frank Hague, its construction was a source of political and labor disputes. The viaduct is listed in the state and federal registers of historic places. Unpredictable traffic congestion and its functionally obsolete design make the Skyway one of the most unreliable roads in the United States. As of 2014, the bridges handle about 74,000 crossings per day, none of which were by trucks since they had been barred from the road in 1934. The bridges have been altered little since opening. In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began a rehabilitation program, which it estimated would cost more than $1 billion and required intermittent closures. The Skyway was closed to eastbound traffic from 2014 to 2018.