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The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (colloquially referred to as the Whitestone Bridge or simply the Whitestone) is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 678 over the East River. The bridge connects Throggs Neck and Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, on the East River's northern shore, with the Whitestone neighborhood of Queens on the southern shore.
Although the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's construction was proposed as early as 1905, it was not approved until 1936. The bridge was designed by Swiss-American architect Othmar Ammann and design engineer Allston Dana and opened to traffic with four lanes on April 29, 1939. The bridge's design was similar to that of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which collapsed in 1940. As a result, extra stiffening trusses were added to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge in the early 1940s, and it was widened to six lanes during the same project. The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was also renovated in 1988–1991 to repair the anchorages, roadways, and drainage. The stiffening trusses were removed during a renovation in the mid-2000s, and the bridge's deck and approach viaducts were replaced soon afterward.
The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge is owned by New York City and operated by MTA Bridges and Tunnels, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With a center span of Template:Convert, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge once had the fourth-largest center span of any suspension bridge in the world. The bridge has a total length of Template:Convert, and its towers reach Template:Convert above water level.
DescriptionEdit
The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge has a Template:Convert main span between its two suspension towers, with the span rising Template:Convert above mean high water.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite enc-nyc2</ref><ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9" /> The side spans, between suspension towers and anchorages at each end, are Template:Convert. Thus, the overall length, from anchorage to anchorage, is Template:Convert.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> As originally designed, the bridge approach on the Queens side descended to ground level via a Template:Convert-long plate girder viaduct, then another Template:Convert on a concrete ramp. The Bronx side's approach descended Template:Convert on a plate girder viaduct, then another Template:Convert on a concrete ramp. A toll booth was located on the Bronx side immediately after the end of the concrete ramp.<ref name=":1" />
The span is supported by two main cables, which suspend the deck and are held up by the suspension towers. Each cable is Template:Convert long and contains 9,862 wires, amounting to around Template:Convert of cable length.<ref name=":9" /><ref name="p1243015454">Template:Cite news</ref> Each cable contains 37 strands of 266 wires, which in turn measure Template:Convert thick.<ref name="p1243015454" /> Each of the suspension towers has a height of Template:Convert above mean high water.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp<ref name=":9" /><ref name="p1244863164">Template:Cite news</ref> The caissons, in turn, are submerged about Template:Convert beneath mean high water.<ref name="p1244863164" /> At each end of the suspension span are two anchorages that hold the main cables, both of which are freestanding concrete structures measuring Template:Convert.<ref name=":1" /> The width of the bridge deck between the cables is Template:Convert.<ref name=":9" />
Unlike other suspension bridges, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge originally did not have a stiffening truss system. Instead, Template:Convert I-beam girders gave the bridge an Art Deco streamlined appearance. After the 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, a bridge of similar design, trusses were added on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge to minimize the span's oscillations.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp<ref name="NYDN-NeedsDough-1947"/><ref name="BarelliWhite2006">Template:Cite journal</ref> Further modifications to the bridge were made in 1988–1991<ref name="BarelliWhite2006" /><ref name=":10" /> and in 2003–2005.<ref name="BarelliWhite2006" /><ref name=":11" />
Highway connectionsEdit
The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge carries Interstate 678 (I-678). In Queens, the Whitestone Expressway (I-678) extends south to an interchange with the Cross Island Parkway, located just past the end of the bridge's approach ramps. There is an exit from the bridge to the southbound Whitestone Expressway service road, and an entrance and exit from the northbound Whitestone Expressway to the northbound service road. In the Bronx, the bridge leads to the Hutchinson River Expressway (I-678). The expressway has exits and entrances in both directions to the Hutchinson River Expressway service roads, which in turn connect to Lafayette Avenue. The expressway continues north to the Bruckner Interchange, where I-678 ends and becomes the Hutchinson River Parkway; there are also connections to the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) and to Bruckner Expressway (I-278 and I-95).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
As most trucks carrying over Template:Cvt have been prohibited from using the Throgs Neck Bridge (approximately Template:Convert east) since 2005,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge is suggested as an alternative route for heavy trucks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tractor-trailers exceeding Template:Convert and traveling between central Queens and the Bronx, as well as all heavy trucks over 53 feet that are banned from the Throgs Neck Bridge, are required to use the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
The idea for a fixed crossing between Ferry Point at Clason Point, Bronx, and Whitestone Point at Whitestone, Queens, was first proposed in 1905 by real estate speculators who wanted to develop Whitestone.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At the time, residents around the proposed area of the bridge protested construction in fear of losing the then-rural character of the community. Plans for the bridge were submitted to the Whitestone Improvement Association in 1909,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but they were not acted upon. Queens public administrator Alfred J. Kennedy later recalled that in 1911, while he was in the New York State Assembly, he had proposed such a bridge but that his plan was "ridiculed".<ref name=":3" />
In 1907, the Clason Point, College Point and Malba Ferry Company proposed a ferry route between Clason Point, Bronx, and Malba, Queens, close to the site of the planned bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The company was incorporated in 1909,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and two years later it started constructing ferry terminals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ferry operations between Clason Point and Malba began on July 2, 1914.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
DevelopmentEdit
PlanningEdit
In 1929, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) proposed a bridge from the Bronx to northern Queens to allow motorists from upstate New York and New England to reach Queens and Long Island without having to first travel through the traffic congestion in western Queens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The RPA believed that it was necessary to connect the proposed Belt Parkway (now Cross Island Parkway) on the Queens side with the Hutchinson River Parkway and Bruckner Boulevard on the Bronx side.<ref name="Six Bridges">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The next year, urban planner Robert Moses formally proposed a Clason Point-to-Whitestone bridge as part of the Belt Parkway around Brooklyn and Queens.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, it was expected that the bridge would cost $25 million to construct.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1932, the New York City Board of Estimate started soliciting applications from private companies to build and operate the crossing as a toll bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One such application was made by Charles V. Bossert, who submitted his plan to the Board of Estimate in 1933.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bossert's plan went as far as U.S. Congress, where in 1935, a bill to approve the construction of Bossert's plan was introduced in the House of Representatives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, the idea of a private company operating a publicly used toll bridge was unpopular, so it was dropped.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
At the same time, the Queens Topological Bureau, Long Island State Park Commission, and Triborough Bridge Authority (TBA; later Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, or TBTA) was conducting a study on the proposed Bronx–Whitestone Bridge. In 1935, the agencies jointly released a report on the connecting roads to be built as part of the bridge plans, and projected that the bridge would cost $20 million (Template:Inflation).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge would directly link the Bronx, and other points on the mainland, to the 1939 New York World's Fair and to LaGuardia Airport (then known as North Beach Airport), both in Queens. In addition, the Whitestone Bridge was to provide congestion relief to the Triborough Bridge, further to the west, which also connected Queens to the Bronx.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p1240310207">Template:Cite news</ref> Real estate speculators predicted that the new bridge would also encourage development in the Bronx.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1240449523">Template:Cite news</ref> New residential units in the Bronx were being planned before construction on the bridge itself even started.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The RPA had also recommended that the Whitestone Bridge have rail connections, or space for such connections, but this would have required longer, shallower approach spans; Moses ultimately did not include any provisions for rail connections on the bridge.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp
Approval and land acquisitionEdit
In 1936, governor Herbert H. Lehman signed a bill that authorized the construction of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, which would connect Queens and the Bronx.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following January, Lehman signed a bill that allowed the TBA to issue bonds for the construction of the bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1243501259">Template:Cite news</ref> In February 1937, TBA chief engineer Othmar Ammann announced that the bridge was both "practical and necessary".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Allston Dana was also hired as the engineer of design.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The same month, approval of a suspension span between Ferry Point and Whitestone was given by Harry Hines Woodring, the United States Secretary of War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Around the same time, the TBA made plans to issue bonds to fund the construction of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moses recommended the TBA and the city should each be responsible for half of the bridge's $17.5 million cost.<ref name="NYTimes-Cost-1937">Template:Cite news</ref>
In April 1937, the TBA started selling $25 million in bonds to fund the bridge's construction.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="p1246877109">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1937-04-21">Template:Cite news</ref> A $1.13 million contract for the construction of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's towers was awarded in June 1937 to the American Bridge Company, which had beaten the only other competitor, Bethlehem Steel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p129783265">Template:Cite news</ref> The same month, the city started buying property that was in the right-of-way for the Whitestone Bridge and Parkway;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> shortly afterward, the rights-of-way for the bridge and parkway were legally designated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> All of the TBA bonds had been sold by July 1937.<ref name="p1240397472">Template:Cite news</ref> The next month, the city had started evicting residents in the path of the bridge's approaches, and officials notified seventeen households in Whitestone that they had ten days to find new housing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This raised controversy because of the short notice given, but Moses said such measures were necessary to complete the bridge on schedule.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition, land in Ferry Point was taken for the construction of the bridge; this land would become Ferry Point Park upon the completion of the bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ConstructionEdit
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A groundbreaking ceremony was held in November 1937, when the Mayor of New York City, Fiorello H. La Guardia, laid the cornerstone for the bridge's Bronx anchorage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Construction on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, along with several other road-improvement projects, was sped up so that the regional road network would be ready in time for the 1939 World's Fair.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To ensure that the bridge would be completed before the fair opened, the cofferdam for the Bronx tower had to be finished in February 1938, followed by the Queens tower in April 1938.<ref name="p1240449523" /> Moses anticipated that the bridge and connecting roads would need to be complete by June 1, 1939.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The project also included the construction of the Flushing River Lift Bridge, a drawbridge over the Flushing River a few miles south of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The four sections of each of the two suspension towers were assembled in only 18 days.<ref name=":9">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref> The tower on the Bronx side was finished first, and in late May 1938, work began on the Queens tower. At the time, it was expected that the spinning of the suspension cables would begin that September.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the first week of July 1938, the TBA reported that both of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's towers were completed, and that the bridge was on schedule to open on April 30, 1939, ahead of schedule.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the construction of connecting roadways on the Queens and Bronx sides of the bridge was being sped up. The Bronx side of the bridge would connect to the Hutchinson River Parkway, while the Queens side would connect to the Whitestone and Cross Island Parkways.<ref name=":1" />
The process of spinning the bridge's cables commenced in September 1938.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1244563335">Template:Cite news</ref> The first cable, which contained 266 strands, was completed within a week.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The suspender cables were completed within 41 days.<ref name=":9" /> That October, work started on the Cross Island Parkway approach to the bridge in Queens.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bridge's opening date was formalized in January 1939,<ref name="p1253754507">Template:Cite news</ref> and the last girder was installed on February 13, 1939.<ref name="p1254583949">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1939-02-14">Template:Cite news</ref> Afterward, the construction of the approach roads was sped up in anticipation of the 1939 World's Fair.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During construction, one worker died when he fell off the bridge deck.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There was another incident in August 1938 in which a 35-ton steel girder dropped from the side of the Whitestone Bridge, though no one was severely injured.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge ultimately cost either $17.785 million (equal to about $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year)<ref name=":8" /> or $19.6 million (equal to about $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year).<ref name="p964417888">Template:Cite news</ref>
OpeningEdit
The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge opened on April 29, 1939, with Moses and La Guardia leading a ceremony of 4,000 people.<ref name="p1244863164" /><ref name="NYT1939">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> Both the Whitestone and College Point neighborhoods had celebrations for the new project, which Moses described as a "logical and inevitable part of the Belt Parkway program".<ref name="NYT1939" /> The bridge featured pedestrian walkways and four lanes of vehicular traffic, and passenger vehicles were initially charged 25 cents.<ref name=":5" /> The Template:Convert center span was the fourth longest in the world at the opening, behind the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, and the double spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp<ref name="p1243015454" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bridge's opening, two months earlier than originally scheduled, coincided with the first day of the 1939 World's Fair.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":12" />
A custom model of lampposts, the "Whitestone" or Type 41 lamppost, was made for the bridge. The lamppost model was later installed on other roads, though it was longer being actively installed by the 1960s, and only a few such lamps remained Template:As of.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In preparation for the 1939 World's Fair, amber street lights were installed on the bridge's approach roads, as well as other key corridors around the city. These lamps were distinctly colored so motorists headed to the fair could follow them while driving.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At its north end, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was to connect with Eastern Boulevard (later known as Bruckner Boulevard) via the Hutchinson River Parkway.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite map</ref> At its south end, the bridge was to connect with the new Whitestone Parkway, which led southwest off the bridge to Northern Boulevard.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite map</ref> The connection between the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge and Whitestone Parkway opened in November 1940,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while the Hutchinson River Parkway between Pelham Bay Park and the bridge opened in October 1941.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p1266836389">Template:Cite news</ref> The Whitestone and Hutchinson River parkways intersected Bruckner Boulevard at a traffic circle, where congestion worsened over subsequent decades until the Bruckner Interchange replaced the circle in the 1970s.<ref name="n143357103">Template:Cite news</ref> On the Queens side, an extension of Francis Lewis Boulevard opened in November 1939, connecting northeastern Queens with the new bridge,<ref name="p1253498756">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1939-11-16">Template:Cite news</ref> while the Cross Island Parkway approach opened in June 1940.<ref name="opened">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1266809068">Template:Cite news</ref>
La Guardia said the bridge could carry up to 4,000 cars per hour in each direction.<ref name="p1244863164" /> Within the first two months of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's opening, it had carried just over a million vehicles, and the bridge was collecting an average of $4,232 a day in tolls.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p1252166472">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1940, the American Institute of Steel Construction recognized the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge as the "most beautiful monumental steel bridge completed during the last year".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, two parks were opened following the bridge's completion. A Template:Convert park under the Queens side of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, named for Declaration of Independence signatory Francis Lewis, was opened in 1940.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> On the Bronx side, the blueprint for Ferry Point Park had been developed in conjunction with the bridge's construction, and additional facilities were added in the early 1940s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Truss installationEdit
As early as June 1938, engineers observed oscillations in the Whitestone Bridge's deck.<ref name="p1263336130">Template:Cite news</ref> Concerns grew after the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, Washington, collapsed during heavy winds in November 1940.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It had employed an Template:Convert-deep girder system, much like the Template:Convert I-beam girders of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge. However, the Whitestone Bridge was shorter and wider than the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's deck was also thicker than that of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which was only Template:Convert thick to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's Template:Convert.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp Overall, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was less prone to oscillation and critical failure, as it was not as flimsy as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.<ref name="p1263336130" /> After performing a series of experiments on the bridge's design, Ammann concluded that additional measures to stiffen the Whitestone Bridge were unnecessary.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp A Princeton University professor separately created a model of the bridge, finding that the Whitestone Bridge's main span could still oscillate in as many as three segments.<ref name="p1263336130" />
Even so, the public was scared by the fact that the two bridges were similar in design, and this led to a belief that the Whitestone Bridge might be unstable, as Moses later related.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Shortly after the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, Moses announced that steel cable stays would be installed on the bridge's towers to reduce oscillation.<ref name="p1263336130" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p515673304">Template:Cite news</ref> To mitigate the risk of failure from high winds, eight stay cables, two on each side of both suspension towers, were proposed for installation.<ref name="Six Bridges" />Template:Rp The stays were supposed to be completed in January 1941.<ref name="p1263336130" /><ref name="p515673304" /> Although $1 million was initially allocated for the bridge-stiffening project, construction was deferred due to material and labor shortages during World War II.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Planning for the project resumed in September 1945 at the end of the war,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1945-09-13">Template:Cite news</ref> and a low bidder for the project was announced that October.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The project's primary goal was to reinforce the bridge with trusses, thus ensuring the bridge's stability. The four lanes of roadway traffic were widened to six lanes, with the two additional lanes replacing the pedestrian walkways on each side. On both sides of the deck, Template:Convert-high steel trusses were installed to weigh down and stiffen the bridge in an effort to reduce oscillation. The stiffening project was completed in 1947.<ref name="NYDN-NeedsDough-1947">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BarelliWhite2006" /> The bridge was repainted in 1953,<ref name="p112805371">Template:Cite news</ref> and large overhead signs were installed on the bridge the same year to direct motorists toward the Whitestone and Cross Island parkways.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Increases in trafficEdit
By the late 1950s, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was carrying nearly 30 million vehicles a year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Concurrently, the Whitestone Parkway and the portion of the Hutchinson River Parkway between the bridge and the Bruckner Interchange were converted to Interstate Highway standards. The Whitestone Parkway became the Whitestone Expressway, and the upgraded part of the Hutchinson River Parkway became the Hutchinson River Expressway.<ref name="1962map2">Template:Cite map</ref><ref name="1963map2">Template:Cite map</ref> In addition, the Van Wyck Expressway between John F. Kennedy International Airport and Kew Gardens was extended northward to connect with the Whitestone Expressway and the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge.<ref name="LISJ-HwyWorkSet-1961">Template:Cite news</ref> By 1966, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge had been designated as part of Interstate 678, along with the Whitestone Expressway.<ref name="p915217479">Template:Cite news</ref> These highway upgrades were performed in preparation for the 1964 New York World's Fair, which was also held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.<ref name="LISJ-HwyWorkSet-1961" />
Also by the 1950s, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was nearing its traffic capacity because it was the easternmost crossing of the East River between the Bronx and Queens.<ref name="p875389539">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To alleviate traffic loads on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, planning for the Throgs Neck Bridge to the east, started in 1955,<ref name="nyt-1955-04-21">Template:Cite news</ref> and construction of that bridge began in 1957.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the Throgs Neck Bridge opened in 1961, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge recorded a corresponding 40% decline in traffic;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> according to a TBTA executive, traffic on the bridge ultimately decreased by more than half.<ref name=":7">Template:Cite news</ref> Soon afterward, the 1964 World's Fair resulted in an increase in traffic on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1968, a heavy storm with winds of up to Template:Convert caused the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's deck to bounce,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":13" /> though the additional trusses helped to reduce vertical movements.<ref name=":8" /> No one was injured, and officials stated that the bridge was not in danger of collapsing during the storm.<ref name=":13">Template:Cite news</ref>
In the long run, use of the bridge continued to grow. By the bridge's 40th anniversary in 1979, there were about 31 million vehicles using the bridge annually.<ref name=":8" /><ref name="p964417888" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bridge had recorded a total of 858 million vehicular crossings over its lifetime.<ref name=":8" /> By 1985, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge carried 35 million vehicles annually, more than the 33 million recorded in 1960, before the Throgs Neck Bridge had opened as an alternate route.<ref name=":7" /> There had been several plans to build a Long Island Sound bridge east of the Bronx–Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges to relieve traffic on these crossings, although such a bridge remained unbuilt in the 21st century.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /> After concrete debris fell from the bridge's Queens approach viaduct in 1985, the TBTA repaired the approach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Upon the bridge's 50th anniversary in 1989, a New York Times writer said: "The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge amounted to soaring evidence that dreams can come true."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Major repairsEdit
In March 1990, the TBTA announced that the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge would undergo a $20.3 million refurbishment. The anchorages, roadways, and drainage were to be repaired during off-peak hours for two years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Actual work took place between December 1989 and December 1991.<ref name=":10" /><ref name="BarelliWhite2006" /> As the Throgs Neck Bridge was being repaired simultaneously, this caused major traffic jams at both bridges.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the renovation, the bridge's expansion joints were replaced by the American Bridge Company, which had originally built the suspension towers. However, in 1993, the sealant around the joints was observed to be deteriorating, necessitating additional repairs.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite news</ref>
By 2001, the TBTA's successor Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) planned to spend $286 million in bridge renovations. In 2003, the MTA restored the classic lines of the bridge by removing the stiffening trusses and installing fiberglass fairing along both sides of the road deck.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":11">Template:Cite news</ref> The lightweight fiberglass fairing is triangular in shape, giving it an aerodynamic profile that allows crosswinds to flow through the bridge rather than hit the trusses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Wilson 2005" /> The removal of the trusses and other changes to the decking reduced the bridge's weight by 6,000 tons, accounting for some 25% of the mass suspended by the cables, In addition, with the truss removals, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge was able to withstand crosswinds of up to Template:Convert, whereas the trusses could resist crosswinds of no more than Template:Convert.<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Wilson 2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The truss removal project also involved upgrading the lighting systems, including the bridge's lightbulbs and the beacons atop the suspension towers, as well as replacing the sprinkler and electrical systems.<ref name="Wilson 2005" />
In 2005, it was announced that the bridge's deck had to be replaced with a new steel orthotropic deck composed of prefabricated panels. One lane at a time needed to be closed and replaced, so as to minimize traffic disruptions.<ref name="Wilson 2005" /> During the deck replacement, five lanes were kept open at all times using a movable barrier, with three Bronx-bound lanes during the morning rush hour and three Queens-bound lanes during the evening rush.<ref name="Wilson 2005" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other renovations included adding mass dampers to stabilize the bridge deck; repainting the two towers and the bridge deck; and installing variable-message signs.<ref name="MTA 2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The deck replacement was completed by 2007.<ref name="Chan 2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="MTA 2008"/> However, cracks were soon observed in some of the new panels, and by 2014, cracks had been observed in 66 of 408 panels, necessitating approximately Template:Convert of rib welds.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The renovations were intended to extend the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge's lifespan indefinitely.<ref name=":6" /> These improvements also accommodated the bridge's high traffic volumes: by 2008, the bridge was being used by an average of 120,000 vehicles a day, amounting to 43 million crossings that year.<ref name="Chan 2009" />
The Queens and Bronx approaches were replaced in a project that started in 2008.<ref name="Chan 2009" /><ref name="MTA 2008" /> As part of the project, each of the approaches' lanes was widened to Template:Convert. The replacement of the bridge's approaches involved replacing 15 supporting piers and Template:Convert of roadway on the Bronx side, as well as Template:Convert of viaduct on the Queens side, which helped support the wider lanes.<ref name="BronxTimes-SaferLanes-2012"/> The contract for the Bronx viaduct replacement was awarded in 2008,<ref name="MTA 2008"/><ref name="BronxTimes-ApproachUpgrade-2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and it was completed in late 2012 at a cost of $212 million.<ref name="BronxTimes-SaferLanes-2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The replacement of the Queens approach, which cost $109 million,<ref name="BronxTimes-SaferLanes-2012"/> was completed in May 2015.<ref name="MTA-Reconstruction-Completed-2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite conference</ref> During the renovation of that approach, the exit from northbound I-678 to Third Avenue was closed and rehabilitated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
TollsEdit
Template:As of, drivers pay $11.19 per car or $4.71 per motorcycle for tolls by mail/non-NYCSC E-Z Pass. E-ZPass users with transponders issued by the New York E‑ZPass Customer Service Center pay $6.94 per car or $3.02 per motorcycle. Mid-Tier NYCSC E-Z Pass users pay $9.11 per car or $3.89 per motorcycle. All E-ZPass users with transponders not issued by the New York E-ZPass CSC will be required to pay Toll-by-mail rates.<ref name=car-toll-rates>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The toll plaza of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, located on the Bronx side, originally contained 10 toll lanes but was later expanded.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite news</ref> Four self-service toll-collection machines were installed at the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge during the 1950s, but they were removed in 1959 because motorists repeatedly dropped their coins at the machines.<ref name="nyt-1959-06-10">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="p1322575031">Template:Cite news</ref> E-ZPass was introduced at the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge in June 1996.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="p278976278">Template:Cite news</ref> Initially, the bridge's toll plaza contained three E-ZPass/cash lanes in each direction to reduce confusion; this contrasted with the Throgs Neck Bridge, where confusion between the E-ZPass-only lanes and cash-only lanes had caused congestion.<ref name="p278976278" />
Open-road cashless tolling began on September 30, 2017.<ref name="Castillo 2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The tollbooths, which were at the Bronx end of the bridge, were dismantled, and drivers are no longer able to pay cash at the bridge. Instead, cameras and E-ZPass readers are mounted on new overhead gantries manufactured by TransCore<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> near where the booths were located.<ref name="Siff 2016"/><ref name="WABC 2016"/> A vehicle without E-ZPass has a picture taken of its license plate and a bill for the toll is mailed to its owner.<ref name="MTA cashless">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For E-ZPass users, sensors detect their transponders wirelessly.<ref name="Siff 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="WABC 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="MTA cashless" />
Historical tollsEdit
| Years | Toll | Toll equivalent in Template:Inflation/yearTemplate:Inflation/fn | Template:Abbr | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | E-ZPass | Cash | E-ZPass | ||||
| 1939–1972 | $0.25 | rowspan="10" Template:N/A | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | rowspan="10" Template:N/A | <ref name=":5"/> | ||
| 1972–1975 | $0.50 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1975"/> | |||
| 1975–1980 | $0.75 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1980–1982 | $1.00 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1982–1984 | $1.25 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1984–1986 | $1.50 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1986–1987 | $1.75 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | <ref name="newspapers.com 1986">Template:Cite news</ref> | ||||
| 1987–1989 | $2.00 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1989–1993 | $2.50 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |||
| 1993–1996 | $3.00 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | <ref name="newspapers.com 1993">Template:Cite news</ref> | ||||
| 1996–2003 | $3.50 | $3.50 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2003–2005 | $4.00 | $4.00 | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | $Template:Formatprice–Template:Formatprice | <ref name="newspapers.com 2003">Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| 2005–2008 | $4.50 | $4.00 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2008–2010 | $5.00 | $4.15 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | <ref name="newspapers.com 2008">Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| 2010–2015 | $6.50 | $4.80 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="bt-tolls-2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2015–2017 | $8.00 | $5.54 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="bt-tolls-2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2017–2019 | $8.50 | $5.76 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="bt-tolls-2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2019–2021 | $9.50 | $6.12 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name="bt-tolls-2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2021–2023 | $10.17 | $6.55 | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | $Template:Round–Template:Inflation | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2023–present | $11.19 | $6.94 | $11.19 | $6.94 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
Public transportationEdit
The bridge carries two MTA Regional Bus Operations routes, the Template:NYC bus link operated by MTA New York City Transit, and the Template:NYC bus link Limited (formerly part of the QBx1), operated by the MTA Bus Company.<ref>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref>
After the removal of the sidewalks starting in 1943, bicyclists were able to use QBx1 buses of the Queens Surface Corporation, which could carry bicycles on the front-mounted bike racks. However, since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority absorbed the bus routes formerly operated by Queens Surface, the bike racks were eliminated.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 1994, bike racks were installed onto QBx1 buses,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the bike-on-bus program was eliminated on February 27, 2005, the same day as the MTA's takeover of the QBx1 route.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the QBx1 was replaced by the Q50, the MTA reintroduced bike racks on Q50 buses in early 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Template:Portal-inline
- Template:Portal-inline
- Template:Portal-inline
- Template:Portal-inline
- Lists of crossings of the East River
- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York