Port Jersey

Looking northwest across MOTBY, Port Jersey, Greenville Yard, and Claremont Terminal, with USS Intrepid in foreground

Part of the New York Harbor, showing the route of a proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel. Port Jersey is the upper of two man-made piers extending into the Upper New York Bay, the lower being MOTBY

Looking north to Claremont Terminal in July 2010, where a new Willis Avenue Bridge received finishing touches before replacing the older East River crossing.^[1]

1912 PRR map showing the Greenville Terminal and its car float operations, also the current crossing

Port Jersey is an intermodal freight transport facility that includes a container terminal located on the Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The municipal border of the Hudson County, New Jersey cities of Jersey City and Bayonne runs along the long pier extending into the bay.^[2] To the north is the adjacent Greenville Yards on a manmade peninsula created in the early 1900s by the Pennsylvania Railroad^[3][4] and Claremont Terminal, once part of the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway operations. A canal to the south separates it from MOTBY, a former military base that is now the site of one of the New York metropolitan area's three cruise ship terminals and site of a planned post-panamax container terminal, the region's first expected to open in 2012.^[5]

Most of the facility is part of United States Foreign-Trade Zone 49^[6] A major part of the pier is used by Global Marine Terminal,^[7][8] a major shipping facility for the New York Harbor, and one of the very few left on the traditional shipping waterfront, most having relocated to Port Newark. It was acquired by the Port Authority in July 2010^[9][10] Deepening of the Port Jersey Channel was authorized by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2010.^[11] It is also one of the few areas on the Bergen Neck peninsula where freight rail lines are still in use.^[12][13][14] In October 2010, the Port Authority, announced plans to develop ExpressRail Port Jersey, allowing for more transfers to trains, and thus reducing transfers to trucks. ^[15] Trains will use a renovated National Docks Secondary freight line to access the national network, part of the Liberty Freight Corridor.^[16] There are also plans for the expansion of Exit 14A on the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike in anticipation of increase demand for truck traffic.^[17]

Most of the area is restricted, though a walkway along its northern side is accessible to the general public and may eventually connect with the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. A very small bird sanctuary (specifically for the least tern)^[18] is located on the promenade.

Greenville Yard

40°40′44″N 74°04′24″W / 40.678921°N 74.0734°W / 40.678921; -74.0734

The Greenville Yard takes its name from the former town of Greenville which became part of Jersey City in the 1860s and lie east of New Jersey Route 185. The yard also lends its name to a nearby industrial park and distribution center.^[19]

The New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, (formerly the New York Cross Harbor Railroad), transfers freight cars across the bay to the Bush Terminal Yard in Brooklyn, New York. This car float operation reduces transfer time since they are not permitted to use New York Tunnel Extension under the Hudson River, Manhattan, and East River. Overland must they cross the Hudson 140 miles (225 km) to the north at Selkirk, New York, making a detour known as the "Selkirk hurdle." NYNJ leases approximately 27 acres (11 ha) of land at Conrail's Greenville Yard, where it connects with two Class I railroads - CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway - both use Conrail's North Jersey Shared Assets Area Access to the national freight rail network and Canadian Pacific Railway is possible via the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to the west or the Long Dock Tunnel to the northwest.

In May 2010, the Port Authority announced that it would purchase the Greenville Yard and build a new barge-to-rail facility there, as well as improving the existing rail car float system. The barge-to-rail facility is expected to handle an estimated 60,000 to 90,000 containers of solid waste per year from New York City, eliminating up to 360,000 trash truck trips a year. The authority's board authorized $118.1 million for the overall project.^[20][21]

The New Jersey Department of Transportation allocated more than $70 million in it 2012 fiscal budget for improvement to the barge and bridge operations.^[22]

Wind turbines

In 2010 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced its intentions to build a five tower wind farm at Port Jersey within three years.^[23][24] The windfarm is part of a larger plan to expand the container port on the manmade peninsula to accommodate post-panamax ships.^[25]

Port of New York and New Jersey container terminals

The other significant seaport terminals under the auspices of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are

• Red Hook Marine Terminal on Upper New York Bay
• Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Arthur Kill at Newark Bay
• Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal on Newark Bay

See also

• Geography of New York Harbor
• Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel
• National Docks Secondary
• List of rail yards
• Wind power in New Jersey

References

1. ^ "New Willis Avenue Bridge arrives at Jersey City marine facility for finishing touches - signs will be installed - before being installed in Bronx next month". NJ.com. 2010-07-15. http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1279176115181440.xml&coll=3. Retrieved 2011-02-14. 
2. ^ Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. 2008. ISBN 0-88097-763-9. 
3. ^ New York Cross Harbor Railraid website with description of Greenville Yard
4. ^ US Army Corp of Engineers
5. ^ http://apps.njtpa.org/consultant/Consultant/Files/Creating%20A%20Regional%20Freight%20Platform%20Final.pdf
6. ^ PANYNJ FTZ 49.
7. ^ Global Marine Terminal
8. ^ Auto Marine Terminal,
9. ^ "Press Release Article - Port Authority of NY & NJ". Panynj.gov. http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1296. Retrieved 2011-02-14. 
10. ^ Willner, Andrew (September 12, 2010). "Saving the Bayonne Bridge, and the N.J./N.Y. port". The Record (Bergen County). http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/102716684_Saving_a_bridge___and_a_port.html. Retrieved 2011-08-25. 
11. ^ http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/project/newjers/factsh/pdf/portjers.pdf
12. ^ PJRR
13. ^ NY Harbor Intermodal Facilities
14. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
15. ^ Strunsky, Steve (October 21, 2010). "Port Authority begins development of ship-to-rail container facility in Jersey City". The Star-Ledger (Newark). http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/port_authority_begins_developm.html. 
16. ^ Tirella, Tricia (October 17, 2010). "$24 million in railway improvements celebrated". Hudson Reporter. http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/9929616/article--24-million-in-railway-improvements-celebrated-North-Hudson-drivers-may-see-more-%E2%80%98efficient%E2%80%99-trains--fewer-train-crossing-delays-. Retrieved 2011-08-25. 
17. ^ Frassinelli, Mike (July 11, 2011). "N.J. Turnpike Authority wants to expand Bayonne interchange". The Star-Ledger (Newark). http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/nj_turnpike_authority_wants_to.html. Retrieved 2011-07-15. 
18. ^ Hudson County Master Plan
19. ^ Garbarine, Rachelle (February 25, 2001). "Commercial Property/New Jersey; In Jersey City, an Industrial Park by the Hudson". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/25/realestate/commercial-property-new-jersey-in-jersey-city-an-industrial-park-by-the-hudson.html. 
20. ^ "Port Authority Board Approves Purchase and Redevelopment of Greenville Yards, Including a Barge-to-Rail Facility to Take Trucks off the Road" (Press release). Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. May 18, 2010. http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1281. Retrieved 2010-11-15. 
21. ^ Urbina, Ian (October 7, 2004). "City Trash Plan Forgoes Trucks, Favoring Barges". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A06EFD9173BF934A35753C1A9629C8B63. Retrieved 2011-02-14. 
22. ^ http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp12/sec2/multimodal.pdf
23. ^ McGeehan, Patrick (August 16, 2010). "Wind Turbine Projects Sprouting Around New York". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/nyregion/16turbines.html. 
24. ^ "Port Authority plans windfarm for New Jersey". environmentalleader.com. May 10, 2010. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/05/20/port-authority-plans-wind-farm-in-new-jersey/. Retrieved 2011-06-06. 
25. ^ Hack, Charles (May 18, 2010), "Port Authority plans to build 5 big windmills to power new container port on Bayonne and Jersey City border", The Jersey Journal, http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/bayonne/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1274163958112320.xml&coll=3, retrieved 2011-06-06 

External links

• Global Terminal
• Cross Harbor Freight Movement Project

Coordinates: 40°40′16″N 74°04′26″W / 40.671°N 74.074°W / 40.671; -74.074