Bayonne Bridge shutdown causes traffic delays during snowstorm

The Bayonne Bridge was shut down for about six hours during Thursday’s snowstorm.
The closures were partly due to an ongoing construction effort. The closures caused traffic backups into Bayonne.
Some drivers who were traveling along the bridge during the storm expressed concern that the incline is more dangerous in winter weather. But the Port Authority said Friday that the incline had nothing to do with the closure. The agency says that the delays were caused by severely clogged traffic on the bridge, which prevented crews from clearing the snow from the roadway.
The mayor of Bayonne said Friday that he wants proof the structure is safe in winter conditions.
“I'm sure they didn't spend billions of dollars and then all of a sudden now we're going to have an issue,” said Mayor James Davis. “But, my response to them was 'I need an engineer’s report that tells us that.' And the people in Bayonne and the people in this area who use the bridge in Staten Island and everywhere else that live down in South Jersey they need to know that."
Davis says that he was also caught in the traffic and that he was stuck in Staten Island for about six hours.
The bridge is being raised so that it can accommodate larger ships.