STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One of two new bridges replacing the existing Goethals Bridge over Arthur Kill will open to traffic this weekend.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday that what will eventually be the Staten Island-bound bridge will be open to Staten Island-bound traffic late afternoon on Saturday, and New Jersey-bound traffic late afternoon on Sunday.

The 89-year-old original Goethals Bridge will cease operations permanently at 10 p.m. Friday.

The Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing will remain open through the weekend.

Until the second span opens, the new Goethals Bridge span will have a total of four 11-foot lanes, two in each direction, plus narrow shoulders, a spokesman from the Port Authority said. The new span is approximately 10 feet wider than the old bridge.

The twin spans are being built next to the existing aging bridge, built in 1928.

When the second span is open in 2018, each bridge will have three 12-foot lanes, as well as 12-foot outer shoulders and 5-foot inner shoulders. The second bridge will have a 10-foot shared use path for bicyclists and pedestrians, and space on both spans will be preserved for future mass transit.

"The new Goethals Bridge will streamline congestion, improve safety and create a stronger, more reliable transportation network across the entire New York metropolitan area," Cuomo said. "After decades of neglect, this administration is investing in New York's future by rebuilding its infrastructure, supporting economic growth and prosperity for generations to come."

The $1.5 billion project is being funded by a public-private partnership, and will be an improvement on the existing bridge, which is considered "functionally obsolete" with a total of four narrow 10-foot lanes, no shoulders and no shared-use pedestrian/bike path.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is paying for a portion of the new bridges, along with private partner NYNJ Link LLC - a partnership of Macquarie and Kiewit -- using a combination of taxpayer funds, federal loans, private bonds and private capital.

"This is the first major, new bridge erected in New Jersey in decades and it was long overdue, as anyone who navigated the old Goethals Bridge can attest," Christie said. "Drivers have been nervously gripping the steering wheel of their cars just to stay in the narrow lanes designed in the 1920s for the nation's first generation of automobiles. The new twin-crossings, constructed next to the aging span, represent a critical infrastructure upgrade as well as a smarter approach to these types of projects. It was built under a major private-public partnership, which resulted in a swifter project completion than had we relied solely on the public sector."