Route 3 Bridge (Hackensack River)
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{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
Route 3 Bridge refers to a pair of vehicular bridges over the Hackensack River in Secaucus and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Located in the immediate vicinity of the Meadowlands Sports Complex at milepost 8.50 of New Jersey Route 3, the downstream bridge carries eastbound traffic while the upstream bridge carries westbound traffic.{{cite web|publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation |url=http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/pdf/00000003__-.pdf |title=Route 3 straight line diagram|access-date=January 27, 2022}} The bridges are often congested, due in part to the distance from other crossings of the river.{{Cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/02/16/route-3 | title=Route 3 | magazine=The New Yorker | date=9 February 2004 }}
Route 3 east
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Route 3 (eastbound)
| image = Rt 3 E bridge over Hackensack R jeh.jpg
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| carries = New Jersey Route 3
| crosses = Hackensack River
| locale = Secuacus and East Rutherford
| owner = New Jersey Department of Transportation
| maint = NJDOT
| id = 0204151
| design = Pratt Truss
| material = Concrete and steel
| length = {{convert|1552.2|ft|m}}
| width = {{convert|60|ft|m}} (deck)
| height = {{convert|17.2|ft|m}}
| mainspan = {{convert|185|ft|m}}
| spans = 14
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| open = 1934
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| coordinates = {{Coord|40|47|59|N|74|04|03|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=it}}
}}
The bridge (NJ ID number 0204152){{cite web |title = NEW JERSEY HIGHWAY CARRYING BRIDGES Attachment # 2 – Structurally Deficient Bridges (All Bridges)|publisher = New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)|date = September 30, 2007 |url = https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/attachment2highwaycarryingbridges.pdf |accessdate = January 27, 2022}} is camelback through truss with a total length of {{convert|1552.2|ft|m}} and a deck width of {{convert|60|ft|m}}.{{Cite web|url=https://bridgehunter.com/nj/hudson/hackensack-river|title=Hackensack River NJ 3 Bridge (EB)|website=Bridgehunter.com}} It is 7.7 mies from the river's mouth.{{Cite report |title = United States Coast Pilot: Atlantic Coast. Cape Cod to Sandy Hook (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) |publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office |year = 1933 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=38xBAAAAIAAJ&dq=bridge+route+three+bascule+hackensack&pg=PA315}} It was built circa 1934 as a bascule bridge, raised with a fixed span in 1964,{{cite web |title = NEW JERSEY HISTORIC BRIDGE DATA |publisher = NJDOT |year = 1994
|url=https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/works/environment/pdf/NJHBD_statewide.pdf|accessdate = January 27, 2022|page =192 |quote = The bridge carries a 4-lane one-directional highway over a major river in the Meadowlands. The viaduct is composed of a rivet-connected Pratt thru truss main span and 13 deck plate girder approach spans all supported on concrete piers. The entire superstructure was raised by concrete extensions to the piers in 1963. The truss span was constructed at that time to replace a double leaf bascule span.}} and rehabilitated in 2011.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/about/press/2011/022411.shtm |title=NJDOT to reconstruct Route 3 bridges over Hackensack River|date = February 4, 2011| publisher = NJDOT}}{{Cite web|url=https://bridgehunter.com/nj/bergen/204152|title=Hackensack River Bridge|website=Bridgehunter.com}}
The bridge, using National Bridge Inventory standards, is 'structurally deficient' and is slated to be replaced. In 2022, state transportation commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti described the then-88-year-old bridge as being "in the worst condition of any in the state." Funding for the $143 million new span is in part funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The project will incorporate provision for a potential future expansion of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, ostensibly between Secaucus Junction rail hub and the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Announced in January 2022, construction is projected to begin in 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/transportation/2022/01/25/route-3-bridge-nj-replaced-meadowlands-light-rail/9203472002/|title=Route 3 Bridge, one of the most dilapidated in NJ, will get $143M replacement|first=Colleen|last=Wilson|website=North Jersey Media Group| date=January 25, 2022 |accessdate = January 27, 2022}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nj.com/hudson/2022/01/pols-announce-143-million-route-3-bridge-over-hackensack-river-and-talk-of-light-rail-too.html|title=Pols announce $143 million Route 3 bridge over Hackensack River and talk of light rail, too|first=Jake |last=Maher| newspaper=The Jersey Journal|date=January 25, 2022 |accessdate = January 27, 2022}}
Route 3 west
{{coord|40.800678|N|74.067058|W|type:landmark_region:US-NJ|format=dms|name=Route 3 West}}
The bridge (NJ ID number 0204151) is also dedicated as the Medgar Evers Bridge. It was built in 1963 and rehabilitated in 2011.