35 New Jersey Firsts – #30 – First Skyway

by Alice Magdziak • August 15, 2014 • Third State • Comments (0) • 2002

Pulaski Skyway may be undergoing a huge refurbishment but it’s still the first skyway highway.

New Jersey officially recognizes 1664 as the year the state was founded when land owned by the Duke of York was given to Sir George Carteret and John Lord Berkeley. That transaction record proclaimed that “said Tract of Land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of New Cesarea or New Jersey.” That makes this year New Jersey’s 350th Anniversary! To celebrate this major milestone, we’ve undertaken a project we’re calling 35 New Jersey Firsts where we highlight 35 things that first came to life in New Jersey.

The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, is the first skyway highway. This four-lane bridge-causeway is designated as U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of 3.502 miles and its longest bridge is 550 feet. The structure crosses the Passaic and Hackensack rivers and Kearny Point, the peninsula between them.

Pulaski Skyway was designed by Sigvald Johannesson and opened in 1932 as the last part of the Route 1 Extension providing a connection to the Holland Tunnel. One of several major projects built during the reign of Hudson County political boss Frank Hague, its construction was a source of political and labor disputes. The bridges have been listed on the federal and NJ state registers of historic places since 2005.

[via Wikipedia]