STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — While the results of widening study for the Outerbridge Crossing are delayed, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved funds for major rehabilitation work on the nearly century-old span, according to the agency.

The Port Authority board recently approved its 2026-2035 capital plan, which includes $336 million in funding for rehabilitation work on the Outerbridge, a spokesperson recently told the Advance/SILive.com.

The plan also includes funding to begin the preliminary work for the eventual replacement of the span — planning, design and environmental review — which would allow construction to begin during the early portion of the 2036-2045 Port Authority capital plan, the spokesperson said.

These plans, first discussed at a series of public hearings earlier this month, were officially approved by the Port Authority board last week, according to the agency representative.

The spokesperson indicated there would be more information on the study on widening the Outerbridge Crossing available in early 2026. The results of the study, which is aimed at the feasibility of adding lanes to the crossing, were due to be released in 2025, the Port Authority previously told the Advance/SILive.com.

The analysis has been in the works for several years, with legislation on the issue introduced by State Sen. Andrew Lanza and Assemblymember Michael Reilly.

This bill was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2021.

Then, in early 2022, the Port Authority agreed to begin the study rather than wait for New Jersey to pass a similar law.

Costing $8.3 million, the Port Authority study is looking at the alignment of the Outerbridge and the property surrounding the span to determine if widening the bridge is a feasible way to ease traffic.

In 2024, the agency said that work on the study was still underway, and that results were not far off.

“The Outerbridge Crossing widening study is halfway completed,” a spokesperson said at the time. “The report will include options and recommendations that will be delivered to governors and legislators of New York and New Jersey. A summary of that report will be released in 2025.”

At that time, the Port Authority also announced plans to award a contract for additional structural work designed to extend the service life of the bridge by 15 to 20 years.

The Outerbridge Crossing, which first opened in 1928, was the Port Authority’s sixth-busiest crossing in 2024, with more than 14.9 million vehicles driving over the span, according to traffic volume data from the agency.

Though it fell to the sixth-busiest crossing in 2022, the span still handled 14.6 million vehicles between Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, according to Port Authority figures.

At one point after the agency began to examine options for replacing the Outerbridge, a group of Staten Island politicians penned a letter, asking about the possibility of an underground tunnel to connect the Island with Perth Amboy.