The Sixth Avenue Bridge over the Passaic River (Structure No. 1600-012) carries Passaic County Route (CR) 652 over the Passaic River, connecting the City of Paterson with the Boroughs of Hawthorne and Prospect Park. The bridge is 300 feet long and 24.5 feet wide, serving as a major crossing from Paterson to points west, including William Paterson University and the Passaic County Vocational & Technical High School, and also providing connection between the Bunker Hill Special Improvement District and Hawthorne.
Project Background
The bridge was originally constructed in 1900 as a four-span structure supported on stone masonry piers and abutments. In 1987, repairs were made, and the superstructure was replaced with temporary Acrow panel trusses with an open steel grid deck. This current bridge has structural and functional limitations that do not meet today’s design standards and transportation needs. A Local Concept Development (LCD) study for major rehabilitation or replacement of the bridge was completed in Spring 2018 through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) using federal funding, with Passaic County as the project sponsor. During this phase, a well-defined Purpose and Need Statement was developed, focusing on the need to improve safety and maintain the current crossing over the Passaic River. A number of conceptual alternatives were developed to meet the project goals and objectives. In coordination with the NJTPA, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, local officials, community stakeholders, and permitting agencies, it was agreed, upon completion of an alternatives analysis, that the recommended Preliminary Preferred Alternative (PPA) to address the structural deficiencies is to replace the bridge with a new structure. Resolutions of support were passed by the City of Paterson, Borough of Prospect Park, and Borough of Hawthorne municipal councils and by the Passaic County Board of County Commissioners.
Local Preliminary Engineering Phase
The project is now in the Local Preliminary Engineering (LPE) phase. The LPE phase involves performing engineering and environmental tasks and documentation in order to obtain National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) clearance for the project. Based on the PPA, a number of activities are simultaneously set in motion: community involvement (meetings with affected property owners and business owners), agency consultation, environmental documentation, design level mapping and design services. To inform and to encourage community consensus, community stakeholder and public information center meetings will be conducted.
The tasks conducted during the LPE Phase consist of, but are not limited to:
- Development of design level base plans and structural studies to document the section process and recommended structure and aesthetic elements
- Geotechnical studies (soil boring and analysis) for foundation and pavement design
- Utility discovery and verification
- Preliminary drainage work
- Access impact evaluation
- Development of property acquisition cost estimates and project cost estimates
- Technical environmental studies (including Section 106 and Section 4(f) Evaluation)
- NEPA Document (Categorical Exclusion)
Local Preliminary Engineering Phase – Anticipated Project Schedule (Major Milestones)
| Approved Environmental Documentation | Spring 2026 |
| Approved Local Preliminary Engineering Report & Completion of LPE Phase | Spring 2026 |
Anticipated Community Involvement Schedule
| Local Officials Meeting No. 1
Local Officials Meeting No. 2 |
Spring 2025
Winter 2026 |
| Community Stakeholders Meeting | Spring 2025 |
| Public Information Center Meeting | Winter 2026 |
Contact Information:
Michelle Lowry Babula, P.E. Nordan Murphy, P.E.
Deputy County Engineer / Project Manager Passaic County Engineer
County of Passaic
Department of Engineering
401 Grand Street, Paterson, NJ 07505
973-881-4450
contactus@sixthavenuebridge.com