South Amboy ferry to Manhattan could begin in 30-60 days: mayor
Plans for South Amboy’s long-envisioned ferry service to Manhattan are coming to fruition.
The City Council approved a resolution on Sept. 6 awarding the contract for construction of the permanent launch area for the ferry service to Kyle Conti Construction LLC, of Hillsborough, at a cost not to exceed $31.8 million, Mayor Fred Henry said.
In addition, the city is hoping to set up a temporary ferry service at the site within the next month or two, Henry said.
"It's finally happening after all of these years," the mayor said. "They are looking to set up trailers by the end of this month and are hoping to get work started in the beginning of October."
According to the resolution, nine bidders submitted proposals, which were reviewed and scored by an evaluation committee.
The committee determined that the lowest responsible responsive bid was submitted Kyle Conti Construction, which also has both the qualifications to undertake the project, the resolution says.
The new facility, located at the end of Radford Ferry Road on Raritan Bay, immediately adjacent to the Station Bay apartment complex, will be anchored by a two-story ferry terminal and will provide 750 parking spaces for commuters. A second floor will feature a restaurant or banquet facility. In addition, a waterfront promenade is planned to allow residents and visitors access to the city’s bay front.
This first construction phase, which includes the dock, gangplank and paving the parking lot, is fully funded by federal and state grants and appropriations, Henry said.
The funding does not support the ferry terminal building itself, which will be part of the second phase of the project, the mayor said.
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"We do have a verbal approval for the modifications for the temporary parking lot permit from the Department of Environmental Protection," Henry said. "It doesn't seem like that will be an issue. We already went over the modifications that they wanted, and we both agreed to them."
A trailer will be on site where people can purchase their tickets, the mayor said.
After building a bridge and access road to the ferry site, a total amount of $35.4 million in federal and state funding has been dedicated to the project, Dan Balka, the city's director of revenue and finance and CFO, said.
The difference in that funding and the contract awarded for the construction will be used to cover the engineering inspections and other related costs to the project, Balka said.
The city has been working very closely with New York Waterway, which in late 2021 was chosen to operate the ferry service, Henry said.
"They are chomping at the bit to get down here," he said.
NY Waterway has been driving its buses around the city to determine the best route to transport people to the ferry, Henry said.
"There are a lot of people involved in this that helped to make this happen," the mayor said. "We are grateful to everyone who worked on this, including Congressman Frank Pallone, Sen. Joe Vitale, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez for their continued support of our project."
Henry said the project will bring good union jobs to the area and help get cars off the roads.
"People have been waiting a long time for this," he added.
Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com
Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: South Amboy NJ ferry to Manhattan could begin in 30-60 days: mayor
