The bridge and its predecessor are named for Major General George Washington Goethals, who supervised construction of the Panama Canal and was the first consulting engineer of the Port Authority.

By 1990, senior executives decided that the best way to accommodate growth was to build a new span, parallel to the existing Goethals Bridge.

In October 1997, the Port Authority issued a final environmental impact statement, but by that time Staten Island officials had lined up against the project, citing the potential for increased traffic through their borough.

The twin-bridge alternative was dropped because of a height restriction set up by the FAA to prevent interferences with flights at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The Goethals Bridge towers were not to exceed 272 feet in height and required to slant outwards because of aircraft flight patterns.

[7] Public open houses were held in Staten Island and Elizabeth, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was issued.

[8] All alternatives proposed that the bridge be single level, cable-stayed, double spans, separated by towers with a height of 135 feet (41 m) above the high-water mark of the Arthur Kill shipping channel.

In addition, permanent access roads would be built under the bridge on land for maintenance, security, and construction purposes.

Provision for rail transit was rejected; however, planners decided that whatever alternative was constructed, the design and structural integrity should ideally be able to be retrofitted for such at a later date.

In addition, while separate from the bridge replacement project, the New Jersey Department of Transportation may construct full movements at the Interstate 278/U.S.

[13] On April 24, 2013, the Port Authority approved the $1.5-billion Goethals Bridge Project[7] for preliminary funding, and broke ground in May 2014.