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.
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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]
In November 2011, the Port Authority contracted HDR, Inc. as prime design consultant. Work includes rehabilitating the railyard and waterfront structures, including a rail barge and transfer bridge, demolishing two other bridges, designing a new barge and two new bridges, and adding 10,000 feet of track. The project is expected to take 5 years.[23][24]
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.[25][26] The windfarm is part of a larger plan to expand the container port on the manmade peninsula to accommodate post-panamax ships.[27]
The other significant seaport terminals under the auspices of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are
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