George Washington Bridge Plaza
The George Washington Bridge Plaza, also known as GWB Plaza or Bridge Plaza, is the convergence of roads and highways around the George Washington Bridge toll plaza in Fort Lee, New Jersey, United States.[2] The plaza is located north of and parallel to Fort Lee's Main Street. The surrounding busy area is characterized by a mix of commercial and residential uses and an architectural variety that includes parking lots, strip malls, houses, gas stations, mid-rise office buildings and high-rise condominiums. Just to the east is Fort Lee Historic Park, Palisades Interstate Park and the bridge's western tower.
| George Washington Bridge Plaza | |
|---|---|
| Bridge Plaza | |
 View looking east to the bridge, south of which is Fort Lee Historic Park, contiguous with Palisades Interstate Park. | |
| |
| Location | |
| Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey | |
| Coordinates | 40.855°N 73.969°W |
| Roads at junction |       |
| Construction | |
| Type | Interchange and transit hub |
| Opened | 1931 |
| Maintained by | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey[1] |
Roadways
The series of streets overlooks the lower vehicular cut through the Hudson Palisades where several major roads converge for the toll plazas[3] for the Hudson River crossing. The four streets that bridge the cut are, from west to east, Fletcher Avenue (U.S. Route 9W), Linwood Avenue, Center Avenue, and Lemoine Avenue (New Jersey Route 67). Through the cut runs the New Jersey Turnpike, which also carries the designations Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1/9, and U.S. Route 46.
The cut and the Turnpike are flanked by service roads. On the southern end, Bruce Reynolds Boulevard (also known as Bridge Plaza South) carries eastbound traffic from Fletcher Avenue and the Turnpike's exit 73 off-ramp to Center Avenue and two-way traffic from there east to Hudson Terrace. It also provides access to and from both the northbound upper and lower level roadways of the Turnpike via exit 74. The northern service road, Bridge Plaza North, carries two-way traffic from Central Road to Center Avenue and westbound traffic from there west to Fletcher Avenue and a westbound on-ramp to New Jersey Route 4.
The northbound turnpike can access Bruce Reynolds Boulevard via exit 73 by way of Route 4 or the lower level roadway or exit 73 from the upper and lower level roadways. The southbound turnpike can access Bridge Plaza North via exit 73 on the upper and lower level roadways.
The expressway roads and their local street entrances/exits at Bridge Plaza under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which also manages the bridge itself.[1][4]
New Jersey Route 4, Bergen Boulevard (U.S. Route 46), and the Palisades Interstate Parkway are roads that originate in the immediate vicinity of Bridge Plaza.
Transit hub
Bridge Plaza is a busy transit hub served by several bus lines, though there is no centralized bus station or stop. Routes operated by NJ Transit primarily connect Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic counties with Manhattan, while Rockland Coaches connect Bergen and Rockland counties with Manhattan.
All bus routes serving Bridge Plaza terminate in Manhattan at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station or Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Spanish Transportation is one of many companies providing dollar van service at Bridge Plaza, primarily serving Paterson via New Jersey Route 4 and the Newport Mall via Bergenline and Anderson Avenues.
NJ Transit
- 156: Englewood Cliffs to Port Authority Bus Terminal via Sylvan Avenue and Bergenline Avenue or River Road[5]
- 158: Fort Lee to Port Authority Bus Terminal via River Road and Port Imperial Boulevard [6]
- 159: Fort Lee to Port Authority Bus Terminal via Bergenline Avenue[7]
- 171: Paterson Broadway Bus Terminal to GWB Bus Station via Route 4[8]
- 175: Ridgewood to GWB Bus Station via Route 4[9]
- 178: Hackensack Bus Terminal to GWB Bus Station[10]
- 181: Bergenline Avenue Station to GWB Bus Station via Palisade and Bergenline Avenues[11]
- 182: Hackensack Bus Terminal to GWB Bus Station[12]
- 186: Dumont to GWB Bus Station via Lemoine and Sylvan Avenues[13]
- 188: West New York to GWB Bus Station via Kennedy Boulevard[14]
- 756: Bergen Community College to Englewood Cliffs via Lemoine & Sylvan Avenues and Route 4[15]
Rockland Coaches
- 9, 9A: GWB Bus Station to New City or Stony Point via U.S. Route 9W and Nyack[16]
See also
- List of tallest buildings in Fort Lee
- Fort Lee lane closure scandal
- George Washington Bridge Bus Station (at the eastern terminus of the bridge in Manhattan)
- New Jersey Route 495, a similar highway built through a cut to access the Lincoln Tunnel
References
- "ENLARGED VIEW 2 (Leonia Borough, Fort Lee Borough and Englewood Cliffs Borough, Bergen County)" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. June 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
- "George Washington Bridge Toll Facilities". US Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
- "GWB Upper Level Toll Plaza". WikiMapia.
- "Port Authority And Fort Lee Commit $30 Million To Alleviate Congestion Around George Washington Bridge" (Press release). Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. September 15, 2003. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
- NJT bus 156 schedule
- NJT 158 schedule
- NJT 159 schedule
- NJT 171 schedule
- NJT 175 schedule
- NJT 178 schedule
- NJT 181 schedule
- NJT 182 schedule
- NJT 186 schedule
- NJT 188 schedule
- NJT 756 schedule
- Rockland Coaches 9/9A schedule
External links
- Wikimapia GWB Upper-Level and Lower-Level Toll Plazas
- an enlarged view of road jurisdiction at the Fort Lee approaches to the George Washington Bridge
- Unofficial New Jersey bus map
- NJ Transit route finder
- NJT Bus Routes in Bergen County
- NJT Bus Routes in Hudson County
- NJT Bus Routes in Passaic County