The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge is a
toll
Toll may refer to:
Transportation
* Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway
** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use
** Road toll (historic), the historic practice of charging for road use
** Shadow toll, ...
suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
which carries
US 44
U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson, ...
and
NY 55
New York State Route 55 (NY 55) is a east-west state highway in southern New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River in Barryville to the Connecticut state line at Wingdale. It is the only other state ...
across the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
between
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
and
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
in the state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
History
Proposals for the Mid-Hudson span were made by state legislature in 1923. Although the
Bear Mountain Bridge
The Bear Mountain Bridge, ceremonially named the Purple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge, is a toll suspension bridge in New York State. It carries US 6 and US 202 across the Hudson River between Bear Mountain State Park in Orange Co ...
in
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798.
Orange ...
and the
Holland Tunnel
The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
were under construction, there were then no fixed highway crossings south of
Albany. Then-
Governor of New York
The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
Alfred E. Smith signed the bill in June 1923. Construction would be undertaken by the New York State Department of Public Works (now the
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
).
Construction began in 1925. Caissons weighing 66,000 tons were sunk into the riverbed; dirt was removed by crews working in a pressurized environment. The Gothic steel towers were constructed in April 1929. Three years after opening, ownership was transferred to the
New York State Bridge Authority
The New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA) is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSBA was born out of the necessity to build a bridge over the Hudson River to link the city of Hudson and the village of Catski ...
in 1933, shortly after the Authority was created.
Then-Governor
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and his wife
Eleanor
Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
The name was introd ...
attended the opening ceremony on August 25, 1930.
The toll plaza was originally located on the eastern side of the bridge, but was moved to the western side in
Ulster County
Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster.
History
...
when a new highway approach was opened in December 1967.
Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for westbound drivers, and at the same time, eastbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a stretch, from the
Outerbridge Crossing
The Outerbridge Crossing, also known as the Outerbridge, is a cantilever bridge that spans the Arthur Kill between Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Rou ...
in the south to the
Rip Van Winkle Bridge
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is a cantilever bridge
spanning the Hudson River between Hudson, New York and Catskill, New York. Affording of clearance over the water, the structure carries NY 23 across the river, connecting US 9W and NY 385 on t ...
in the north, were also changed to eastbound-only at that time.
The Mid-Hudson Bridge was designated as a New York State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the
American Society of Civil Engineers
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
in 1983.
The bridge was renamed the "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge" in 1994.
In 2009, composer
Joseph Bertolozzi
Joseph Bertolozzi (born 1959) is an American composer and musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra and solo songs to immense sound-art installations. With increasingly numerous performances across Europe and the United States to ...
completed
Bridge Music
''Bridge Music'' is a public sound art installation on the Mid-Hudson Bridge in New York. An album was released featuring music from the installation, under the same name.
History
One of composer Joseph Bertolozzi, Joseph Bertolozzi's most well ...
, a project which allows listeners to hear the Mid-Hudson bridge played like a musical instrument. The work was created for New York's 400th anniversary observance of
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States.
In 1607 and 160 ...
's voyage up the Hudson. Originally intended to be a live performance piece,
[Young, Alison (1 July 2007). "It's all in the ears of the beholder."]
, Minnesota Public Radio (Minnesota).["Reuters Video: Hudson River Bridge Used For Music"]
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
. this "audacious plan" to compose music for a suspension bridge using the bridge itself as the instrument brought Bertolozzi wide international attention. A recording of the results, the 2009 CD "Bridge Music" (on the
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
label DE1045), entered the Billboard Classical Crossover Music Chart at #18,
[AOL News (12 April 2010). "Musician Hammering Out Deal to Play Eiffel Tower"]
. and has been released globally.
At midnight on March 1, 2022, the bridge was converted to all-electronic tolling in the eastbound direction.
Description
The bridge is long with a clearance of above the Hudson. At opening, it was the
sixth-longest suspension bridge in the world. The chief engineer was Polish immigrant
Ralph Modjeski
Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder."
Life
He was born in Bochnia, called Galicia at the time, on Janua ...
, who had previously engineered the strengthening of the nearby
Poughkeepsie Railroad bridge
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
. Primary contractor was the American Bridge Company of
Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1905 as a company town by the American Bridge Company, Ambridge is located 16 miles (25 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. The population was ...
with steel from Carnegie. The span contains stiffening
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es intentionally constructed on top of the deck instead of below the deck.
The bridge carries three lanes of US 44 and NY 55 and a pedestrian/bicycle walkway over the
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
. The bridge allows connections to
US 9
U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, betwe ...
on the east side, and
US 9W
U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins in Fort Lee, New Jersey, as Fletcher Avenue crosses the US 1–9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 (I-95) approache ...
to the west. The center lane is generally closed, except for rush hour traffic eastbound from 6am to 9am, and westbound from 3pm to 6pm. The center lane is also occasionally opened when work is being done on either side of the bridge. Five lane signals (referred to as "gantries" by NYSBA) indicate which lanes are open for travel. Approaches on either side of the bridge are four lanes, causing a
bottleneck
Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...
going onto the one- or two-lane span. The bridge has a computer-controlled
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
decorative lighting system attached to the suspension cables, allowing the bridge to be decorated for Christmas (red, green) or the Fourth of July (red, white, and blue), and for other holidays.
In 2019, the bridge authority announced that tolls on its Hudson River crossings would increase each year beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023. As of May 1, 2021 the toll for passenger cars traveling eastbound on the Mid-Hudson Bridge was $1.75 in cash, $1.45 for E-ZPass users. In May 2022 tolls rose to $1.55 for E-ZPass users and $2 for cash payers. In 2023, the E-ZPass toll will increase to $1.65, and the cash toll will rise to $2.15
Image:Mid-Hudson Bridge.jpg, The bridge from the south-east
Image:Mid-Hudson Br.jpg, Looking east on the Mid-Hudson Bridge
Mid-Hudson Bridge twilight 2019.jpg, The bridge in twilight in 2019
Image:FDR MHB sign.jpg, Sign bearing the official name of the span
Image:MidHudsonBridge.jpg, The from the north, as seen from the Walkway Over the Hudson
The Walkway over the Hudson (also known as the Poughkeepsie Bridge, Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, Poughkeepsie–Highland Railroad Bridge, and High Bridge) is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, ...
See also
*
*
*
*
*
List of fixed crossings of the Hudson River
*
References
External links
*
NYCroads Historic overviewBridgemeister.com - Mid-Hudson Suspension Bridge*
{{Hudson River
Bridges completed in 1930
Bridges in Ulster County, New York
Bridges over the Hudson River
Buildings and structures in Poughkeepsie, New York
Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state)
New York State Bridge Authority
Road bridges in New York (state)
Roads with a reversible lane
Suspension bridges in New York (state)
U.S. Route 44
Toll bridges in New York (state)
Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System
Steel bridges in the United States
Monuments and memorials to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States