The Portway, a new truck-only tolled highway, would connect ports in Elizabeth and Newark with intermodal terminals. The planned route goes from Port Elizabeth, alongside the New Jersey Turnpike, through Port Newark, connects to Bayonne and South Kearny, Jersey City along Tonnelle Avenue, Secaucus, and North Bergen.

The project would likely require significant filling of wetlands near Newark Bay and the rivers that feed it.

The Legislature approved spending $8 million over the next three years for the planning stages of the project. Construction is slated to begin in 2003. The total cost of the project is unknown but expected reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

A separate port connection project, the "Union County Intermodal Corridor Project," is also under study. It would stretch between Port Elizabeth and Bayonne, but it is as yet unclear how it will relate to the Portway.

So far, the Portway designers appear not to have examined whether shuttle trains, increasingly used to move containers from European ports to remote distribution nodes, can play a role in improving access to and from ports Newark and Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, NJ's commitment to rail freight, a viable alternative to truck freight, remains relatively weak. In fiscal year 2000, NJ DOT has pledged only $7 million for rail freight projects in the entire state. Norfolk Southern and CSX estimate that New Jersey's capital needs for rail will be at least $20 million per year for the next ten years.

Hudson and Union Counties, as well as regional railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX, have questioned the need for Portway. There is very little right of way for new roads in Hudson County, while Union County and the rail companies note that improved ramps to the Turnpike (which already has dedicated truck lanes) would provide cheaper intermodal access. Furthermore, the City of Newark ranked the Portway as a "low priority" project in its recent Economic Development Land Use & Transportation Plan capital improvement plan schedule.