JCwhatimsayin OP t1_ixj58t8 wrote on November 23, 2022 at 8:49 PM

Reply to comment by CivilPotato in First time ever getting stuck at the 1-9 lift bridge to Kearny by JCwhatimsayin

Fascinating! And thank you so much for weighing in! How many people are staffed on this bridge during operating hours? Does it take more than one person to safely operate it? I had no idea this bridge was so disruptive to so many commuters. With a two hour call time, would you be able to precisely establish clocks/electronic counting down to openings on the approach to these bridges or even send the data to Google Maps/Waze in real time? If river traffic is set to increase, this could be pretty helpful.

CivilPotato t1_ixjadri wrote on November 23, 2022 at 9:23 PM

On paper this bridge could be operated by one individual, but in reality it's a 2-4 person job. Since this road is so busy, and this bridge is so old, roadway issues, electrical, and mechanical malfunctions are not uncommon, and troubleshooting such a large structure is always easier with more people. The call out time operation / notification system you're talking about is a neat idea that I've seen used in other states. Unfortunately the gears of government grind very slowly. It was a two-year effort to change this bridge to a 2-hour call out time from 11pm to 7am. Right now, marine pilots just aren't required to call ahead, so they don't.