After deeming Hoboken, New Jersey’s 14th Street Viaduct structurally deficient and functionally obsolete despite its history, Hudson County selected Stantec along with consultants, Trans Systems and T.Y. Lin International/Medina to complete a replacement design for the 100-year-old viaduct.

Currently, the 14th Street Viaduct stretches almost ¼ of a mile and rises over 70 ft carrying over 20,000 vehicles per day. It is also considered an iconic landmark in the Hoboken skyline and a result, the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office required certain steps to be taken to have the replacement structure appropriately reflect the context of Hoboken’s historic district.

Stantec’s Rochelle Park, New Jersey and New York City offices were responsible for everything required for the project except for the actual viaduct structural design, performing the topographical survey, the site/civil grading and drainage and roadway designs, utility relocations, roadway lighting, traffic signal designs as well as all of the context-sensitive architectural treatments necessary for the bridge. These components include parapets, roadway and bridge lighting, fences, piers, pier caps, beams and girders, abutment faces, portals and wing walls, sidewalks and steel colors along with any public art and pedestrian amenities.       

Stantec’s urban designers and landscape architects also helped Hoboken and Hudson County determine the programming for the eventual use of the four-block long area underneath the viaduct. The design includes space for events such as flea markets, green markets, and community movies as well as multi-recreational space for basketball, roller and ice hockey and other urban park elements that were requested by the community including painted games, a younger child playground and a dog park.

The $40 million 14th Street Viaduct Replacement project is currently undergoing federal review and has not yet gone out to bid but construction is scheduled to begin in early 2011 with completion slated for mid 2013.

-Carolina Worrell