Last week, the Estuary Crossing Study Feasibility Report was presented to the Transportation Commission for the first time. Getting beyond the numerous factual errors and missing information in the document, one thing stood out.
The study recommends as feasible, a vertical lift bridge for bikes and peds that would be the longest moveable span in the world—600 feet. The current honors go to the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge in NJ at 588 feet. It would also be one of the tallest vertical lift bridge in the world. I was unable to dig up “tallest in the world” information, but did come across “tallest in Europe,” which is the Pont Gustave Flaubert at 55m (180 feet) is the same height as the proposed Estuary Crossing.
The report mentions that bicyclists and pedestrians would have to wait “less than 15 minutes for each water vessel passage.” for the bridge to open and close. However, this is based on how long the Park Street bridge openings can take to clear the decks, open and close.
The Pont Gustave Flaubert takes 12 minutes to raise, and 12 minutes to lower. Add in time to wait for a pedestrian to walk the 2 football fields across the deck, time for double-checking that there are no joyriders, etc. and you’re at 30+ minutes easily.
And even more surprising, after all these discussions, the Coast Guard has refused to make a determination as to whether they will commit to keeping the bridge closed (except in emergencies) during commute hours. Meaning bicyclists and pedestrians could be waiting for 30 minutes to get to work during their 30-40 minute commute.
The Transportation Commission recommended against pursuing this option until such a commitment could be found, and the $55 million in funding better identified. (Apparently “cost is no hurdle” when looking at feasibility”