The Triborough Bridge is made of four segments. The three primary spans traverse the East River to Queens; the Harlem River to Manhattan; and Bronx Kill to the Bronx, while the fourth is a T-shaped approach viaduct that leads to an interchange plaza between the three primary spans on Randalls Island. The Queens arm of the viaduct formerly crossed Little Hell Gate, a creek located between Randalls Island to the north and Wards Island to the south. Excluding elevated ramps, the segments are a total of long, with a span between the Bronx and Queens, and a span between Manhattan and the interchange plaza.
Description
Triborough Bridge
Triborough Bridge | Description
Yes -  East River, Harlem River, Bronx Kill Yes, The East River span, a suspension bridge across the Hell Gate of the East River, connects Queens with Wards Island. Yes, "East River" and "Harlem River". Yes The Harlem River
how much is robert f kennedy bridge toll
user
drivers pay $9.50 per car or $4.00 per motorcycle for tolls by mail. Customer Service Center pay $6.12 per car or $2.66 per motorcycle.
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which locations are connected by this bridge?
user
The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
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does it traverse a river?
user
The Triborough Bridge is made of four segments. The three primary spans traverse the East River to Queens; the Harlem River to Manhattan; and Bronx Kill to the Bronx, while the fourth is a T-shaped approach viaduct that leads to an interchange plaza between the three primary spans on Randalls Island. The Queens arm of the viaduct formerly crossed Little Hell Gate, a creek located between Randalls Island to the north and Wards Island to the south. Excluding elevated ramps, the segments are a total of long, with a span between the Bronx and Queens, and a span between Manhattan and the interchange plaza.
Triborough Bridge | Description
The Triborough Bridge (known officially as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, and also known as the RFK Triborough Bridge, the RFK Bridge, or simply the RFK) is a complex of bridges and elevated expressway viaducts in New York City. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. The viaducts cross Randalls and Wards Islands, which were previously two islands but are now joined by landfill. The Triborough Bridge, a toll bridge, carries Interstate 278 (I-278) as well as the unsigned highway New York State Route 900G. It connects with the FDR Drive and the Harlem River Drive in Manhattan, the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) and the Major Deegan Expressway (Interstate 87) in the Bronx, and the Grand Central Parkway (I-278) and Astoria Boulevard in Queens.
Triborough Bridge | Introduction
When the bridge opened, none of the spans had direct connections to the greater system of highways in New York City. In Queens, the Grand Central Parkway extension to the Triborough Bridge was nearly completed at the time of the bridge's opening. The Manhattan span was planned to connect to the East River Drive (now the FDR Drive), the first segments of which were still under construction. The section of the East River Drive from the bridge south to 92nd Street opened that October. The Bronx span ended in local traffic at the no-longer extant intersection of 135th Street and Cypress Avenue.
Triborough Bridge | Early years
The main truss span across the Bronx Kill is long, while the approaches are a combined . The total length of the bridge is . The truss span is above mean high water.
Triborough Bridge | Bronx Kill crossing (I-278)
The Harlem River separates the Bronx and Manhattan, necessitating several spans between the two New York City boroughs. Five free bridges connect Harlem and the Bronx: the Willis Avenue Bridge (for northbound traffic only), Third Avenue Bridge (for southbound traffic only), Madison Avenue Bridge, 145th Street Bridge, and Macombs Dam Bridge. In East Harlem, the Wards Island Bridge, also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, connects Manhattan with Wards Island. The Triborough Bridge is a complex of three separate bridges that offers connections between Queens, East Harlem, and the Bronx.
Harlem | Bridges
Kennedy Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge.
The Bronx | Bridges and tunnels
The movable section is suspended by a total of 96 wire ropes, which are wrapped around pulleys with diameters. These pulleys, in turn, are powered by four motors that can operate at .
Triborough Bridge | Harlem River lift bridge (NY 900G)
It would have created a crosstown subway line along 125th Street, as well as a new subway line in the Bronx under St. Ann's Avenue.
Triborough Bridge | Public transportation
The Bronx Kill span is a truss bridge that connects the Bronx with Randalls Island. It carries eight lanes of I-278, as well as two sidewalks, one on each side. The span connects to Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) and the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) in Mott Haven, Bronx. It originally connected to the intersection of East 134th Street and Cypress Avenue, a site now occupied by the interchange between I-87 and I-278. The truss span was designed by consulting engineers Ash-Howard-Needles and Tammen. The Bronx Kill span contains three main truss crossings, which are fixed spans because the Bronx Kill is not used by regular boat traffic.
Triborough Bridge | Bronx Kill crossing (I-278)
The East River span, a suspension bridge across the Hell Gate of the East River, connects Queens with Wards Island. It carries eight lanes of Interstate 278, four in each direction, as well as a sidewalk on the northeastern side. The span connects to Grand Central Parkway, and indirectly to the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway (I-278), in Astoria, Queens. Originally it connected to the intersection of 25th Avenue and 31st Street; the former was later renamed Hoyt Avenue. The suspension span was designed by chief engineer Othmar Ammann. The span was originally designed to be double-decked, with eight lanes on each deck.
Triborough Bridge | East River suspension bridge (I-278)
It is also possible to travel on land to Staten Island by way of Brooklyn, via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The George Washington Bridge, the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, connects Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan, to Bergen County, in New Jersey. There are numerous bridges to the Bronx across the Harlem River, and five (listed north to south)—the Triborough (known officially as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), Ed Koch Queensboro (also known as the 59th Street Bridge), Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridges—that cross the East River to connect Manhattan to Long Island. Several tunnels also link Manhattan Island to New York City's outer boroughs and New Jersey.
Manhattan | River crossings
The Triborough Bridge carries the bus routes operated by MTA New York City Transit, as well as several express bus routes operated by the MTA Bus Company: . The M35 travels from Manhattan to Randalls and Wards Islands (with the X80 also operating during special events), while the M60 SBS runs between Manhattan and Queens, and the MTA Bus express routes travel between Manhattan and the Bronx. In the 1920s, John F. Hylan proposed building the Triborough Bridge as part of his planned Independent Subway System. The proposal entailed extending the New York City Subway's BMT Astoria Line along the same route the Triborough now follows.
Triborough Bridge | Public transportation
The three spans of the Triborough Bridge intersect at a grade-separated T-interchange on Randalls Island. The span to Manhattan intersects perpendicularly with the I-278 viaduct between the Bronx and Queens spans. Although I-278 is signed as a west-east highway, the orientation of I-278 on the bridge is closer to a north-south alignment, with the southbound roadway carrying westbound traffic, and the northbound roadway carrying eastbound traffic. Two circular ramps carry traffic to and from eastbound I-278 and the Triborough lift bridge to Manhattan. Randalls and Wards Islands are accessed via exits and entrances to and from westbound I-278; to and from the westbound lift bridge viaduct; to eastbound I-278; and from the eastbound lift bridge viaduct.
Triborough Bridge | Interchange plaza and approach viaducts
Edward A. Byrne, chief engineer of the New York City Department of Plant and Structures, first announced plans for connecting Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx in 1916. The next year, the Harlem Boards of Trade and Commerce and the Harlem Luncheon Association announced their support for such a bridge, which was proposed to cost $10million. The "Tri-Borough Bridge", as it was called, would connect 125th Street in Manhattan, St. Ann's Avenue in the Bronx, and an as-yet-undetermined location in Queens. It would parallel the Hell Gate Bridge, a railroad bridge connecting Queens and the Bronx via Randalls and Wards Islands.
Triborough Bridge | Initial plans
The Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, was the first bridge to span the East River, connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn, and all but replacing the frequent ferry service between them, which did not return until the late 20th century. The bridge offered cable car service across the span. The Brooklyn Bridge was followed by the Williamsburg Bridge (1903), the Queensboro Bridge (1909), the Manhattan Bridge (1912) and the Hell Gate Railroad Bridge (1916). Later would come the Triborough Bridge (1936), the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge (1939), the Throgs Neck Bridge (1961) and the Rikers Island Bridge (1966). In addition, numerous rail tunnels pass under the East River – most of them part of the New York City Subway system – as does the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel.
East River | Bridges and tunnels
To lighten the deck, it was made of asphalt paved onto steel girders, rather than of concrete. The movable span is long, and the side spans between the movable span and the approach viaducts are each long. The total length of the bridge is . The towers are above mean high water. Each of the lift towers is supported by two clusters of four columns, which supports the bridge deck. A curved truss at the top of each pair of column clusters forms an arch directly underneath the deck. The lift span is above mean high water in the "closed" position, but can be raised to .
Triborough Bridge | Harlem River lift bridge (NY 900G)
The Harlem River span is a lift bridge that connects Manhattan with Randalls Island, designed by chief engineer Ammann. It carries six lanes of New York State Route 900G (NY 900G), an unsigned reference route, as well as two sidewalks, one on each side. The span connects to the Harlem River Drive and the FDR Drive, as well as the intersection of Second Avenue and East 125th Street, in East Harlem, Manhattan, though there is no direct access to the northbound Harlem River Drive. At the time of its completion, the Harlem River lift bridge had the largest deck of any lift bridge in the world, with a surface area of .
Triborough Bridge | Harlem River lift bridge (NY 900G)
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Triborough Bridge | Historical tolls
Queens is connected to the Bronx by the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Triborough Bridge (also known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), and the Hell Gate Bridge. Queens is connected to Manhattan Island by the Triborough Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, as well as to Roosevelt Island by the Roosevelt Island Bridge. While most of the Queens/Brooklyn border is on land, the Kosciuszko Bridge crosses the Newtown Creek connecting Maspeth to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Pulaski Bridge connects McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint to 11th Street, Jackson Avenue, and Hunters Point Avenue in Long Island City.
Queens | Bridges and tunnels
Six bridges span the river's navigable section, carrying rail and automobile traffic. They are, from downstream heading upstream: Pelham Bridge (movable), Amtrak's Pelham Bay Bridge (movable), Hutchinson River Parkway (movable), New England Thruway (fixed), and Eastchester Bridge (Boston Post Road) (fixed), in The Bronx; and Fulton Ave Bridge in Pelham Manor (movable). The movable bridges still employ tenders and open daily for maritime traffic.
Hutchinson River | Crossings
By October 1935, the Queens approach and the Randalls and Wards Islands viaduct was nearly complete. Vertical suspender cables had been hung from the main cables of the Queens suspension span, and the steel slabs to support the span's roadway deck were being erected. However, progress on the Bronx and Manhattan spans had not progressed as much: the concrete piers supporting Bronx span were being constructed, and the site of the Manhattan span was marked only by its foundations. The deck of the Queens suspension span was completed the following month. In November 1935, a controversy emerged over the fact that the Triborough Bridge would use steel imported from Nazi Germany, rather than American producers.
Triborough Bridge | Significant progress
The borough presidents of Manhattan and the Bronx voted for the allocation of the funds, while the presidents of Queens and Staten Island agreed with Hylan, who preferred the construction of the new subway system instead of the Tri-Borough Bridge. The bridge allocation was ultimately not approved. Another attempt at obtaining funds was declined in 1924, although there was a possibility that the bridge could be built based on assessment plans that were being procured.
Triborough Bridge | Initial plans
The bridge has sidewalks on all three spans where the TBTA officially requires bicyclists to walk their bicycles across due to safety concerns. However, the signs stating this requirement have been usually ignored by bicyclists, and the New York City Government has recommended that the TBTA should reassess this kind of bicycling ban. Stairs on the Queens span impede handicapped access, and only the northern sidewalk on that span is open to traffic; the Queens end of the southern sidewalk was demolished in the early 2000s. The two sidewalks of the Bronx span are connected to one long and winding ramp at the Randalls Island end, though another pedestrian bridge between Randalls Island and the neighborhood of Port Morris, Bronx, opened to the east of the Triborough Bridge in November 2015.
Triborough Bridge | Pedestrian and bicycle sidewalks
In January 1929, New York City aldermanic president Joseph V. McKee endorsed the bridge, saying there was enough funding to begin one of four proposed bridges on the expressway's route. The newly elected borough president of Queens, George U. Harvey, also endorsed the bridge, as did Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce leader George Vincent McLaughlin. Trade groups petitioned Mayor Walker to take up the bridge's construction. By the end of the month, Walker acquiesced, and he had included both the Tri-Borough Bridge and a tunnel under the Narrows in his 10-year traffic program. The preliminary borings were completed by late February 1929.
Triborough Bridge | Funding
Although Moses had power over the construction of all New York City Housing Authority public housing projects and headed many other entities, it was his chairmanship of the Triborough Bridge Authority that gave him the most power. The Triborough Bridge (later officially renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) opened in 1936, connecting the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens via three separate spans. Language in its Authority's bond contracts and multi-year Commissioner appointments made it largely impervious to pressure from mayors and governors. While New York City and New York State were perpetually strapped for money, the bridge's toll revenues amounted to tens of millions of dollars a year.
Robert Moses | Triborough Bridge
Connolly also said that a bridge between Queens and Manhattan needed to be built further downstream, closer to the Queensboro Bridge, which at the time was the only bridge between the two boroughs. The Port of New York Authority included the proposed Tri-Borough Bridge in a report to the New York state legislature in 1921. The following year, the planned bridge was also included in a "transit plan" published by Mayor John Francis Hylan, who called for the construction of the Tri-Borough Bridge as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (see ). In March 1923, a vote was held on whether to allocate money to perform surveys and test borings, as well as create structural plans for the Tri-Borough Bridge.
Triborough Bridge | Initial plans
The results of the preliminary borings showed that the bedrock in the ground underneath the proposed bridge was sufficient to support the spans' foundations.
Triborough Bridge | Funding
High Bridge was erected between 1837 and 1848 to carry the Croton Aqueduct across the river. It is the oldest bridge in New York City. The New York City Department of Transportation advises that while they make every effort to ensure that all bridges are operating, many of them are under repair at any time, and outside contractors are responsible for opening of bridges under repair.
Harlem River | Crossings
The bridge provides a direct rail link between New England and New York City. In 1936, it was spanned by the Triborough Bridge (officially Robert F. Kennedy Bridge since 2008), allowing vehicular traffic to pass among Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens.
Hell Gate | History
The first of two approach highways in the Bronx was approved late in 1936; it connected to the West Bronx, following the present route of the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) northwest to the intersection of 138th Street and Grand Concourse, where there were flyover ramps connecting to the Grand Concourse. Another approach highway in the Bronx, the present Bruckner Boulevard, was approved in 1938. This highway was built on the site of Whitlock Avenue, extending northeast through the South Bronx from the bridge to the Bronx River, where it followed Eastern Boulevard eastward to what is now the Bruckner Interchange.
Triborough Bridge | Early years
NY 900G is officially maintained as a north-south route, despite its largely east-west progression.
Triborough Bridge | Major intersections
The first phase involved renovating the Queens span and approach ramps, as well as replacing the suspender cables. On the Queens side, an exit ramp from westbound I-278 to 31st Street necessitated the destruction of the entrance to the southern sidewalk. The second phase involved renovating the Bronx span and approach ramps. The third phase involved renovating the Manhattan span and approach ramps. Work on replacing the Queens span's suspender cables and adding an orthotropic deck to the Queens suspension span started in 2000. At some point in the past, a sign on the bridge informed travelers, "In event of attack, drive off bridge," "New York Times" columnist William Safire wrote in 2008.
Triborough Bridge | Later history
The Harlem River separates the Bronx and Manhattan, necessitating several spans between the two New York City boroughs. Three free bridges connect East Harlem and the Bronx: the Willis Avenue Bridge (for northbound traffic only), Third Avenue Bridge (for southbound traffic only), and Madison Avenue Bridge. In East Harlem, the Wards Island Bridge, also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, connects Manhattan with Wards Island. The Triborough Bridge (officially the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) is a complex of three separate bridges that offers connections between Queens, East Harlem, and the Bronx. Public transportation service is provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
East Harlem | Transportation
On Wards Island, the highway heads north through Wards Island Park and passes to the east of Manhattan Psychiatric Center as it passes over the border onto Randall's Island, which is connected to Wards Island by land. I-278 passes through the bridge's former toll plaza before an interchange that provides access to Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive by way of another segment of the Triborough Bridge over the Harlem River. After this interchange, the Triborough Bridge carries the route over the Bronx Kill into the Bronx, where westbound tolls are collected electronically.
Interstate 278 | Grand Central Parkway and Triborough Bridge
The three primary bridges of the Triborough Bridge complex are:
Triborough Bridge | Introduction
New York City is located on one of the world's largest natural harbors, and the boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island are primarily coterminous with islands of the same names, while Queens and Brooklyn are located at the west end of the larger Long Island, and the Bronx is located on New York State's mainland. This situation of boroughs separated by water led to the development of an extensive infrastructure of bridges and tunnels. The George Washington Bridge is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, connecting Manhattan to Bergen County, New Jersey. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the Americas and one of the world's longest.
New York City | River crossings
In August 1928, Mayor Jimmy Walker received a similar proposal from the Long Island Board of Commerce to build the Tri-Borough Bridge using $32million of private capital. The Queens Chamber of Commerce also favored setting up tolls on the bridge to pay for its construction. Yet another plan called for financing the bridge using proceeds from a bond issue, which would also pay for the proposed Queens–Midtown Tunnel. The Tri-Borough Bridge was being planned in conjunction with the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway, which would create a continuous highway between the Bronx and Brooklyn with a southward extension over The Narrows to Staten Island.
Triborough Bridge | Funding
The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway proposal, which would create a highway from the Queens end of the bridge to Queens Boulevard in Woodside, Queens, was also considered.
Triborough Bridge | Initial efforts
New York City's crossings date back to 1693, when its first bridge, known as the King's Bridge, was constructed over Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, located in the present-day Kingsbridge neighborhood. The bridge, composed of stone abutments and a timber deck, was demolished in 1917. The oldest crossing still standing is High Bridge, built 1848 to carry the Croton Aqueduct from Manhattan to the Bronx over the Harlem River. This bridge was built to carry water to the city as part of the Croton Aqueduct system. Ten bridges and one tunnel serving the city have been awarded some level of landmark status.
List of bridges and tunnels in New York City | Bridges
Plans for the Tri-Borough Bridge were bolstered by the 1919 closure of a ferry between Yorkville in Manhattan and Astoria in Queens. A bill to construct the bridge was proposed in the New York State Legislature in 1920. Gustav Lindenthal, who had designed the Hell Gate Bridge, criticized the Tri-Borough plan as "uncalled for", as the new Tri-Borough Bridge would parallel the existing Hell Gate Bridge. He stated that the Hell Gate Bridge could be retrofitted with an upper deck for vehicular and pedestrian use. Queens borough president Maurice K. Connolly also opposed the bridge, arguing that there was no need to construct a span between Queens and the Bronx due to low demand.
Triborough Bridge | Initial plans
In Manhattan, it meets the Catskill Aqueduct. It finally flows through Brooklyn and Staten Island, stopping near the end of the island.
Cross River Reservoir | Introduction
The project never got beyond planning, since funds were transferred to the Verrazano Bridge, which Robert Moses's Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority had the power to build.
125th Street Hudson River bridge | Introduction
Motorists bound for New England or upstate regions of New York had to take either the Throgs Neck Bridge or the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, and both bridges were already reaching their designed capacities. Robert Moses, chairman of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, worked with the Department of Public Works to commission a $150,000 (1964 USD) study by the firm Madigan-Hyland to study the feasibility of a bridge across the sound. Moses revealed the results of the study to the Nassau and Suffolk Regional Planning Board in February 1966. The Oyster Bay–Rye Bridge (originally the Bayville–Rye Bridge) was proposed to complete the Interstate 287 (I-287) beltway around the New York Metropolitan Area.
New York State Route 135 | Bridge to Rye
Shortly afterward, a special mayoral committee sanctioned a $5million expenditure for the Triborough project, and in July 1930, a $5million bond issue to fund the Triborough Bridge's construction was passed. Plans for an expressway to connect to the bridge's Queens end were also filed in July 1930. This later became the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, which was connected to the bridge via the Grand Central Parkway. There were also proposals for an expressway to connect to the Bronx end of the bridge along Southern Boulevard. Robert Moses, the Long Island state parks commissioner, wanted to expand Grand Central Parkway from its western terminus at the time, Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens, Queens, northwest to the proposed bridge.
Triborough Bridge | Initial efforts
The building was renamed after Moses in 1989.
Triborough Bridge | Interchange plaza and approach viaducts
The "somewhat macabre sign", he wrote, must have "drawn a wry smile from millions of motorists."
Triborough Bridge | Later history
Cuomo Bridge.
HNTB | Bridges
The bridge has a total length of , and its towers reach above water level.
Bronx–Whitestone Bridge | Introduction
Volk Company, refused to carry out the contract. In early December, the contract for the piers was reassigned to the McMullen Company. Meanwhile, the Board was condemning the land in the path of the bridge's approaches. However, this process was also postponed because homeowners wanted to sell their property to the city at exceedingly high prices. The War Department gave its approval to the Bronx Kills, East River, and Little Hell Gate spans in late April 1930, after construction was already underway on the Queens suspension span across the East River. A week later, the War Department also approved the Harlem River span, with another amendment: the span was now a movable lift bridge, which could be raised to allow maritime traffic to pass.
Triborough Bridge | Initial efforts
The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Triborough Bridge Project as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986. On November 19, 2008, the Triborough Bridge was officially renamed after Robert F. Kennedy at the request of the Kennedy family. To manage the bridge (and eventually all tolled New York City water crossings), the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority erected an art deco head building, the former base of Robert Moses; the building still stands on the island. In 1937, the islands were connected by a bridge over Little Hell Gate, obviating the need for a ferry to Wards Island.
Randalls and Wards Islands | Bridges
Further south along the Hudson River, the Lincoln Tunnel (Route 495) and Holland Tunnel (Interstate 78/Route 139) also enter Manhattan. Both tunnels are operated by the Port Authority, which collects tolls from drivers crossing the Hudson River eastbound toward New York City. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (I-278), connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn, is the southernmost alternate route. It connects to the Bayonne Bridge, Goethals Bridge, and Outerbridge Crossing between Staten Island and New Jersey. All four bridges to Staten Island collect tolls for drivers driving into the island. Further north within the New York metropolitan area, the Tappan Zee Bridge (Interstates 87/287 and New York State Thruway) avoids the congested Cross Bronx Expressway and the city proper.
George Washington Bridge | Alternate routes
Kennedy Triboro Bridge when it connects to the Harlem River Drive. Between most of the FDR Drive and the River is the East River Greenway, part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. The East River Greenway was primarily built in connection with the building of the FDR Drive, although some portions were built as recently as 2002, and other sections are still incomplete.
East River | 20th and 21st centuries
Less than a week afterward, the first temporary wires were strung between the two towers of the suspension span, marking the future locations of that span's main cables. A contract for the Harlem River lift span's steel superstructure was awarded that May, followed by a contract for the Bronx Kill truss span's structure the following month. The spinning of the main span's suspension cables was finished in July 1935. By that time, half of the $41million federal grant had been spent on construction, and the bridge was expected to open the following year. The projected completion of the Triborough Bridge in July 1936 was expected to relieve traffic on highways in the New York City area, and with the upcoming 1939 New York World's Fair being held in Queens, it would also provide a new fast route to the fairground at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.
Triborough Bridge | Significant progress
The Throgs Neck Bridge was designed by structural engineer Othmar Ammann, who also designed the George Washington, Bronx–Whitestone, Verrazzano-Narrows, and Triborough Bridges in New York City. It connects the boroughs of Queens to the south and the Bronx to the north, and is the third vehicular bridge to be constructed between Queens and the Bronx, after the Triborough and Bronx–Whitestone Bridges. The bridge is a suspension bridge with six lanes, three in each direction. Each three-lane roadway is wide, and the two directions of traffic are divided by a barrier. The roadway is paved with asphalt. There is no pedestrian or bicyclist access of any kind.
Throgs Neck Bridge | Description
Being primarily an island, Manhattan is linked to New York City's outer boroughs by numerous bridges, of various sizes. Manhattan has fixed highway connections with New Jersey to its west by way of the George Washington Bridge, the Holland Tunnel, and the Lincoln Tunnel, and to three of the four other New York City boroughs—the Bronx to the northeast, and Brooklyn and Queens (both on Long Island) to the east and south. Its only direct connection with the fifth New York City borough, Staten Island, is the Staten Island Ferry across New York Harbor, which is free of charge. The ferry terminal is located near Battery Park at Manhattan's southern tip.
Manhattan | River crossings
In total, the bridge contains of roadway, including elevated ramps. The bridge was primarily designed by chief engineer Othmar H. Ammann and architect Aymar Embury II. Wharton Green served as the Public Works Administration (PWA)'s resident engineer for the project.
Triborough Bridge | Description
Eastbound traffic on I-278 accesses the island by first exiting onto the lift bridge viaduct. The interchange plaza originally contained two tollbooths: one for traffic traveling to and from Manhattan, and one for traffic traveling on I-278 between the Bronx and Queens. The tollbooths were arranged so vehicles only paid one toll upon entering Randalls and Wards Islands, and there was no charge to exit the island. The elevated toll plazas had a surface area of about and were supported by 1,700 columns, all hidden behind a concrete retaining wall. In 2017, the MTA started collecting all tolls electronically at the approaches to each bridge, and the tollbooths were removed from the toll plazas on the Triborough Bridge and all other MTA Bridges and Tunnels crossings.
Triborough Bridge | Interchange plaza and approach viaducts
Most recently during the January 2010 floods the bridge was covered by floodwaters for five days.
Granville Bridge, Maryborough | Introduction
In 1968, the Triborough Bridge received its first major renovation in its 31-year history. Seven tollbooths were added, three at the Manhattan span's toll plaza and four at the Queens/Bronx spans' toll plaza, and several ramps were widened at a cost of $20million. The project also added a direct ramp from the Manhattan span to the southbound lanes of Second Avenue in East Harlem. The TBTA administration building was also expanded during this project. Traffic from the Manhattan span was temporarily diverted during this project. In 1997, more renovations were announced as part of the Triborough Bridge Rehabilitation Project. The project consisted of three phases.
Triborough Bridge | Later history
Jervis. James Renwick, Jr., who later went on to design the landmark Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, participated in the design. The Croton Aqueduct had to cross the Harlem River at some point, and the method was a major design decision. A tunnel under the river was considered, but tunneling technology was in its infancy at the time, and the uncertainty of pursuing this option led to its rejection. This left a bridge, with the Water Commission, engineers and the public split between a low bridge and a high bridge. A low bridge would have been simpler, faster, and cheaper to construct.
High Bridge (New York City) | Construction
The scale of the Triborough Bridge project, including its approaches, was such that hundreds of large apartment buildings were demolished to make way for it. The structure used concrete from factories "from Maine to the Mississippi", and steel from 50 mills in Pennsylvania. To make the formwork for pouring the concrete, a forest's worth of trees on the Pacific Coast was cut down. Robert Caro, the author of a biography on Long Island State Parks commissioner and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority chairman Robert Moses, wrote about the project: Triborough was not a bridge so much as a traffic machine, the largest ever built.
Triborough Bridge | Construction
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.
Bronx–Whitestone Bridge | Planning
Moses leveraged his leadership of the Triborough Bridge Authority, as well as the state and city positions he also held, to expedite the Triborough project. The Triborough Bridge opened on July 11, 1936. The TBA subsequently constructed a second bridge, the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, between the Bronx and Queens. Construction started in 1937 and the bridge opened on April 29, 1939, in time for the 1939 New York World's Fair in Queens. Moses had proposed a third bridge, the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, on the site of what is now the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. However, the United States Department of War ultimately rejected the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge as an impediment to shipping, since it would obstruct access from the New York Harbor to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels | Early years
Until the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, all travel to Long Island was by boat. The first trains to connect Long Island to Manhattan were elevated rail lines that travelled over that same bridge. There are currently ten road crossings out of Long Island: the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island; the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Queens Midtown Tunnel, and Queensboro Bridge to Manhattan; the Triborough Bridge to either Manhattan or the Bronx via Wards Island; and the Whitestone Bridge and Throgs Neck Bridge to the Bronx. All ten crossings are within New York City limits at the extreme western end of the island, making trips from Long Island to New England especially circuitous.
Transportation on Long Island | Bridges and tunnels
The Harlem River separates the Bronx and Manhattan, with the Macombs Dam Bridge connecting the two boroughs within Concourse. Interstate 87, the Major Deegan Expressway, has exits that can access the neighborhood. The Grand Concourse terminates onto roads leading across the Triborough Bridge with connections to Queens and Manhattan. New York City Subway routes include the IRT Jerome Avenue Line () at 161st Street and 167th Street, and the IND Concourse Line () at 161st Street and 167th Street. MTA Regional Bus Operations also operates routes in the area, comprising the Bx1, Bx2, Bx6, Bx6 SBS, Bx13, and Bx35 local routes as well as the BxM4 express route.
Concourse, Bronx | Transportation
Thirteen bridges and three tunnels connect the Bronx to Manhattan, and three bridges connect the Bronx to Queens. These are, from west to east: "To Manhattan:" the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Broadway Bridge, the University Heights Bridge, the Washington Bridge, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, the High Bridge, the Concourse Tunnel, the Macombs Dam Bridge, the 145th Street Bridge, the 149th Street Tunnel, the Madison Avenue Bridge, the Park Avenue Bridge, the Lexington Avenue Tunnel, the Third Avenue Bridge (southbound traffic only), and the Willis Avenue Bridge (northbound traffic only). "To both Manhattan and Queens:" the Robert F.
The Bronx | Bridges and tunnels
When the construction of the Triborough Bridge was paused in 1932 due to lack of funding, the suspension span was downsized to a single deck. There are Warren trusses on each side of the span, which stiffen the deck. The center span between the two suspension towers is long, and the side spans between the suspension towers and the anchorages are each long. The total length of the bridge is , and the deck is wide. At mean high water, the towers are tall, and there is of clearance under the middle of the main span. The suspension towers were originally designed by Arthur I.
Triborough Bridge | East River suspension bridge (I-278)
The bridge carries the road
Trent Bridge, Gainsborough | Transport
Thruway traffic sometimes uses the George Washington Bridge as a detour, since there are no road crossings of the Hudson River between the George Washington and the Tappan Zee Bridges. The Tappan Zee Bridge also charges tolls for eastbound drivers.
George Washington Bridge | Alternate routes
The Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge – because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th Streets – and officially named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. It connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with the Upper East Side in Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island. The bridge was completed in 1909. The Queensboro Bridge carries New York State Route 25, which terminates at the bridge's western end in Manhattan, and also once carried NY 24 and NY 25A.
Queensboro Bridge | Introduction
Both Bronx approach roads were completed quickly in preparation for the 1939 New York World's Fair, which was held in Queens. The first segment of the West Bronx approach highway to the Grand Concourse was opened in April 1939, in time for the fair. The West Bronx highway later became part of the Major Deegan Expressway, an Interstate-standard highway that reached to the New York State Thruway at the New York City border. Originally, there was no direct access from the Queens span to Wards Island, but in November 1937, Moses announced the construction of a ramp from the Queens span that would lead down to the island.
Triborough Bridge | Early years
The bridge is operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge | History
Access to the Manhattan Bridge is provided by a series of ramps on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides of the river.
Manhattan Bridge | Exits and entrances
The current bridge was preceded at that location by two bridges destroyed in the Flood of 1936. Upstream was the wooden double-decked covered bridge known as the Montague City Bridge, and carried rail traffic on top, with other traffic below. It was built in 1866, and was over long, with 5 spans. Next was the trolley bridge, which was a metal through-truss. When the Flood of 1936 came, the trolley bridge was knocked off its piers and sunk into the river, where it remains. The covered rail bridge floated down the river, where it knocked two spans off the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Bridge (now known as the Canalside Rail Trail Bridge), then proceeded down the river to destroy the Sunderland Bridge.
General Pierce Bridge | Previous structures
In 1864, a walkway was built across the High Bridge. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks), the bridge's current maintainer, described the walkway as the bridge's contemporary High Line. However, the bridge was not used for vehicles. In 1928, to improve navigation in the Harlem River, the five masonry arches that spanned the river were demolished and replaced with a single steel arch of about . Of the masonry arches of the original 1848 bridge, only one survives on the Manhattan side, while some ten survive on the Bronx side. Use of the structure to deliver water to the island ceased on December 15, 1949.
High Bridge (New York City) | Usage
The bridge has two main spans, since there is an east and west channel in the Hudson River at this point.
Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge | Introduction
The agency was named after its first crossing, the Triborough Bridge. The Triborough Bridge Authority was reorganized as the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in 1946, and subsequently began using the name MTA Bridges and Tunnels in 1994. In addition to operating all nine toll crossings located entirely within New York City, the TBTA also controlled several buildings such as the New York Coliseum and the East Side Airline Terminal, both of which have been demolished.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels | Introduction
In the first month of service, the TBA recorded an average bridge usage of 31,000 vehicles per day. The American Institute of Steel Construction later declared the Triborough Bridge to be the most beautiful steel bridge constructed in 1936. The ferry between Yorkville, Manhattan, and Astoria, Queens, was made redundant by the new Triborough Bridge. Upon the bridge's opening, Moses unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the ferry house before being stopped by La Guardia. The city had closed the ferry by the end of July. Traffic on the Queensboro Bridge, the only other vehicular bridge that connected Manhattan and Queens, declined after the Triborough Bridge opened.
Triborough Bridge | Opening
The Macombs Dam Bridge ( ; also Macomb's Dam Bridge) is a swing bridge across the Harlem River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. The bridge is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT). The Macombs Dam Bridge connects the intersection of 155th Street and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue), located in Manhattan, with the intersection of Jerome Avenue and 161st Street, located near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The 155th Street Viaduct, one of the bridge's approaches in Manhattan, carries traffic on 155th Street from Seventh Avenue to the intersection with Edgecombe Avenue and St.
Macombs Dam Bridge | Introduction
The tollbooths were dismantled, and drivers are no longer able to pay cash at the bridge. Instead, there are cameras mounted onto new overhead gantries near where the booths were formerly located. A vehicle without an E-ZPass has a picture taken of its license plate and a bill for the toll is mailed to its owner. For E-ZPass users, sensors detect their transponders wirelessly.
Triborough Bridge | Tolls
The Tappan Zee Bridge connects Tarrytown in Westchester to South Nyack in Rockland County, across the Hudson River; a $4 billion replacement for the original bridge began construction in 2013 and opened in 2017, and was renamed the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. The Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson from the town of Cortlandt to Orange County.
Westchester County, New York | Bridges
Route 1/9 across the Hudson River. The Lincoln Tunnel connects to Midtown Manhattan carrying New Jersey Route 495, and the Holland Tunnel connects to Lower Manhattan carrying Interstate 78. New Jersey is also connected to Staten Island by three bridges—from north to south, the Bayonne Bridge, the Goethals Bridge, and the Outerbridge Crossing.
New Jersey | Roadways
At the eastern end of the over-water span, there are two Warren truss spans, followed by a camelback span over the tracks of the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line. Past the camelback span, the bridge intersects with the on- and off-ramps to and from the southbound Major Deegan Expressway. To the northeast, a steel approach road leads to Jerome Avenue, which extends north into the Bronx and Westchester County, and there are cloverleaf ramps to and from the northbound Major Deegan Expressway. The approach road consists of six steel-and-concrete spans across the expressway, as well as six more Warren trusses. These spans are supported by girders located atop granite piers.
Macombs Dam Bridge | Bronx approach
For crossings of the Hudson River, see:
Lists of crossings of the Hudson River | Introduction
The city purchased land in the path of the Triborough Bridge in September 1933, and construction on the Triborough Bridge resumed that November. By January 1934, contracts were being prepared for the completion of the suspension span and the construction of the other three spans; one of these contracts included the construction of the bridge's piers. Families living in the path of the bridge's approaches protested against the eviction notices given to them. The construction of the Triborough Bridge across Little Hell Gate also required the demolition of hospital buildings on Randalls and Wards Islands. Work on land-clearing for the bridge began that April.
Triborough Bridge | Construction resumes
Along with the Brooklyn and North River Railroad, the two streetcar companies began operations on those tracks. When trackage was connected to the bridge in 1915, the trolleys were moved to the upper level roadways until 1929, when service was discontinued.
History of the New York City Subway | Triborough plan
Putnam Bridge was a swing bridge that spanned the Harlem River and the adjacent tracks of the New York Central Railroad in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx near the current location of Yankee Stadium. It carried two tracks of the New York & Putnam Railroad, and later the 9th Avenue elevated line of the IRT, as well as two pedestrian walkways outside the superstructure. The bridge opened to rail and pedestrian traffic on May 1, 1881, and operated until all rail service was discontinued on August 31, 1958. The bridge's extreme narrowness of between the centers of the trusses, combined with the proximity of the Macombs Dam Bridge, made it impractical and unnecessary to convert to a roadway bridge, and it was removed in 1960.
Putnam Bridge (New York City) | Introduction
I-278 turns west to run along the eight-lane state-maintained Grand Central Parkway, with Astoria Boulevard (and Hoyt Avenue later on) serving as a frontage road. The road runs along a depressed alignment, passing under Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. At the 31st Street interchange, the Grand Central Parkway overlap ends, and I-278 continues northwest along the tolled, eight-lane Triborough Bridge, which passes over Astoria. Eastbound tolls are collected electronically at this point. I-278 crosses the East River on the Triborough Bridge, which maintained by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. It then enters Wards Island, which is a part of the borough of Manhattan.
Interstate 278 | Grand Central Parkway and Triborough Bridge
The bridge carries the Q32 local bus route operated by MTA New York City Transit and the Q60 and Q101 local bus routes operated by the MTA Bus Company. The bridge also carries 20 express bus routes in the eastbound direction only: the MTA Bus Company's , and New York City Transit's X63, X64, and X68. (These bus routes use the Queens-Midtown Tunnel for westbound travel.)
Queensboro Bridge | Buses
This sharply contrasts with the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge and the Burlington–Bristol Bridge located downstream as they are both drawbridges, and are subject to frequent openings to allow large ships up and down stream (all other bridges downstream from the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge are high level crossings).
Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge | History
The High Bridge (originally the Aqueduct Bridge) is the oldest bridge in New York City, having originally opened as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848 and reopened as a pedestrian walkway in 2015 after being closed for over 45 years. A steel arch bridge with a height of over the Harlem River, it connects the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan. The eastern end is located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx near the western end of West 170th Street, and the western end is located in Highbridge Park in Manhattan, roughly parallel to the end of West 174th Street.
High Bridge (New York City) | Introduction
The Third Avenue Bridge carries southbound road traffic on Third Avenue over the Harlem River, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City. It once carried southbound New York State Route 1A. The Third Avenue Bridge carries traffic south from the intersections of either Third Avenue and East 135th Street, or Bruckner Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, in the Bronx. On the Manhattan side, the bridge funnels traffic into three locations: East 128th Street; the intersection of East 129th Street and Lexington Avenue; or the southbound Harlem River Drive in Manhattan. The bridge was formerly bidirectional, but converted to one-way operation southbound on August 5, 1941 on the same day the Willis Avenue Bridge was similarly converted to one-way northbound.
Third Avenue Bridge (New York City) | Introduction
The 125th Street Hudson River bridge was a proposed bridge across the Hudson River between 125th Street in Manhattan, New York City and Cliffside Park or Fort Lee in New Jersey. It was never built. The bridge was proposed by a study in 1954. Othmar H. Ammann designed a double-deck suspension bridge similar to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which would build the bridge. A Cross Harlem Expressway was to run across the Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem to a second deck of the Triborough Bridge, also at 125th Street; this had also been proposed in 1929.
125th Street Hudson River bridge | Introduction
To the east, the highway leads to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, completed in 1963, which crosses the Harlem River to connect the GWB to the Bronx via the Cross Bronx Expressway. The Washington Bridge, built in 1888, crosses the river just north of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and connects to both the Trans-Manhattan and Cross Bronx expressways. Crossing the river at 175th Street in Manhattan, the High Bridge is the oldest bridge in New York City still in existence. Completed in 1848, it originally carried the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water system and later functioned as a pedestrian bridge that had been closed to the public since the 1970s.
Washington Heights, Manhattan | Bridges and highways
The toll revenues from the Triborough Bridge pay for a portion of the public transit subsidy for the New York City Transit Authority and the commuter railroads. The bridge had annual average daily traffic of 164,116 in 2014. For that year, the bridge saw annual toll-paying traffic rise by 2.9% to 59.9million, generating $393.6million in revenue at an average toll of $6.57.
Triborough Bridge | Usage
The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York formally endorsed a Queens–Manhattan crossing in January 1929, but stated that the crossing could be either a bridge or a tunnel. The city began conducting a study on the feasibility of constructing the Triborough Tunnel, as well as the Triborough Bridge between Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. The study's authors suggested that the city construct a network of parkways and expressways, including a major highway leading from Long Island to the Manhattan-Queens tunnel. The Queens Planning Commission also recommended the construction of the Triborough Tunnel. An official plan for the Triborough Tunnel was released that June.
Queens–Midtown Tunnel | Approval
The last crossing to be built was the south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel in 1957, but in 1962, another deck was added to the George Washington Bridge. Since 2003, various proposals have been made to add a new train line. This includes an extension of the completed 7 Subway Extension, the canceled Access to the Region's Core, and the proposed Gateway Project.
North River (Hudson River) | Fixed crossings
North to south, the bridges are:
Bridges of York | Bridges over the Ouse
Roosevelt was the first person to drive through it. The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel runs underneath Battery Park and connects the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan to Red Hook in Brooklyn.
Manhattan | River crossings
The Riparius Bridge is a two lane truss bridge that carries New York State Route 8 across the Hudson River connecting Johnsburg, New York with Chestertown, New York. It was built in 2003, replacing a similar style camelback truss bridge that had been built in 1919. The new bridge was built to better accommodate vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
Riparius Bridge | Introduction