The Throgs Neck Bridge is a

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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, carrying six lanes of Interstate 295 (I-295) over the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

where it meets the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. The bridge connects the

Throggs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and ea ...

section of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

with the Bay Terrace section of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Opened on January 11, 1961, it is the newest bridge across the East River and was built to relieve traffic on the

Bronx–Whitestone Bridge 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 ...

, to the west. The Throgs Neck Bridge is also the easternmost crossing of the

. Due to this and its proximity to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

, it is the closest route from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

via the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...

, as well as points north. The Throgs Neck Bridge is owned by the

government of New York City The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the ...

and operated by the

Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), doing business as MTA Bridges and Tunnels, is an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that operates seven toll bridges and two tunnels in New York City. In terms of traf ...

(TBTA), an affiliate agency of the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

(MTA).

Description

The Throgs Neck Bridge is a six lane

, with three in each direction. It was designed by structural engineer

Othmar Ammann Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, 1879 – September 22, 1965) was a Swiss-American civil engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and constru ...

, who also designed the

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, Bronx–Whitestone, Verrazzano-Narrows, and

Triborough Bridge The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (RFK Bridge; formerly known and still commonly referred to as the Triborough Bridge) is a complex of bridges and elevated expressway viaducts in New York City. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, a ...

s in New York City. It connects the boroughs of

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. 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. The Throgs Neck Bridge is a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

; it originally had tollbooths on the Bronx side, but they were replaced by

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The m ...

gantries in 2017.

Design

The Throgs Neck Bridge did not have to accommodate large vessels of specific dimensions and as a result, did not need to be as long as other Ammann-designed bridges in New York City. The center span is , and the distance between each suspension tower and anchorage is , with an anchorage-to-anchorage total length of . The bridge contains two long approach ramps, one on either bank, because both the Bronx and Queens are located on low elevations. The bridge has a approach ramp in the Bronx, curving over the

SUNY Maritime College State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY Maritime College) is a public maritime college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Founded in 1874, the SUNY Maritime College was the fir ...

Fort Schuyler Fort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices of the State University of ...

on the

peninsula, as well as a ramp directly east of Cryder's Point in

Bay Terrace, Queens Bay Terrace is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is often considered part of the larger area of Bayside. Bay Terrace overlooks the East River and the approaches to the Throgs Neck Bridge from t ...

. Including approaches, the bridge spans more than . The span is supported by two main cables, which suspend the deck and are held up by the suspension towers. Each main cable contains 37 strands, with each strand made of 296 individual wires, for a total of 10,952 wires per main cable. The main cables weigh each. At each end of the suspension span are two anchorages that hold the main cables, both of which are freestanding concrete structures measuring . The bridge's Bronx anchorage is at the tip of Throggs Neck, and the towers are located in the middle of the Long Island Sound. The Queens anchorage is located off the shore of Fort Totten, in the East River. The suspension towers of the bridge are of closed-box construction with arched

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

s at the top of each tower. The tops of the suspension towers are sharp and blocky atop the struts, and there are flattened

segmental arch A segmental arch is a type of arch with a circular arc of less than 180 degrees. It is sometimes also called a scheme arch. The segmental arch is one of the strongest arches because it is able to resist thrust. To prevent failure, a segmental arc ...

es on the underside of the struts. Both suspension towers are located on artificial concrete islands in the East River, which are above mean high water. Each suspension tower rises above the islands, or above mean high water.

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s have lived high on a suspension tower since at least 1983, when they were first spotted. They are thought to have nested there because the tops of the towers resembled their natural habitat of high cliffs. Instead of employing a rather streamlined-looking plate-girder system, Ammann constructed the bridge with stiffening transverse trusses under the deck. These served as

counterweight A counterweight is a weight that, by applying an opposite force, provides balance and stability of a mechanical system. The purpose of a counterweight is to make lifting the load faster and more efficient, which saves energy and causes less wear ...

s to the bridge and allowed any wind to simply blow through, instead of against, the bridge. The asphalt roadway lies atop a deck, which consists of dozens of panels that lie directly above the trusses.

Road connections

The Throgs Neck Bridge was one of the few that were not part of the plans for the

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...

around Queens and Brooklyn. Instead, the bridge was built along with the

Clearview Expressway Clearview or clear view may refer to: Entertainment * ''Clearview'' (album), the seventh studio album by the Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall Companies * Clearview AI, a facial recognition company * Clearview Cinemas, a chain of movie thea ...

in Queens and the eastern part of the

Cross Bronx Expressway The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major freeway in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is mainly designated as part of Interstate 95 (I-95), but also includes portions of I-295 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1). The Cross Bronx begins ...

in the Bronx. The Throgs Neck Bridge carries Interstate 295 (I-295). On the Queens side, the bridge connects to the southbound Clearview Expressway (I-295) and the eastbound

Cross Island Parkway The Cross Island Parkway is a parkway in New York City, part of the Belt System running along the perimeter of the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The Cross Island Parkway runs from the Whitestone Expressway ( Interstate 678 or I-678) i ...

. There is no direct connection to the westbound Cross Island Parkway or from the Cross Island Parkway

service roads A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

in either direction. On the Bronx side, there are connections to and from the community of Throggs Neck. The northbound entrance and exit leads to the Throgs Neck Expressway service road, while the southbound exit and entrance leads from the intersection of the Throgs Neck Expressway service road and Harding Avenue. Immediately afterward, the highway splits into the Throgs Neck Expressway ( I-695), which connects to northbound

; and I-295, which connects to southbound I-95, westbound

I-278 Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...

, and northbound

Hutchinson River Parkway The Hutchinson River Parkway (known colloquially as The Hutch) is a north–south parkway in southern New York in the United States. It extends for from the massive Bruckner Interchange in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx to the New York ...

at the

Bruckner Interchange The Bruckner Interchange is a complex interchange in the New York City borough of The Bronx in the United States. The junction connects four highways: the Bruckner, Cross Bronx, and Hutchinson River (or Whitestone) Expressways, and the Hutchinso ...

Traffic restrictions

, the Throgs Neck Bridge has a height limit of for southbound vehicles and for northbound vehicles. The maximum width of any vehicle is . Tractor-trailers exceeding 53 feet and traveling between Long Island and the Bronx are required to use the Throgs Neck Bridge. A weight limit is imposed on heavy vehicles traveling on the bridge. The MTA allows 6 and 7-axle trucks with less than of gross vehicle weight, and 5-axle trucks with less than of gross vehicle weight, if they have valid divisible-load permits. Trucks carrying less than may also use the bridge, but all heavy loads are speed-restricted to and must use the center lane of the bridge. Heavy trucks carrying more than 80,000 lb without permits are prohibited from using the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Name

The name of "Throgs Neck" in the bridge's name derives from John Throckmorton, who first settled Throggs Neck. The traditionally correct spelling is with two "g"s.

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

—chairman of the

(TBTA), which built the bridge—likely chose the variant with one "g" because it was easier to spell.

History

Planning

Plans for a bridge between Throggs Neck and Queens date to a 1932 study by engineer J. Franklin Perrine. However, he discarded the proposed Throggs Neck-to-Queens span because it would have required the construction of new highways at either end. The Throgs Neck Bridge's construction was announced in January 1955, by the

Port Authority In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other t ...

and the TBTA as part of the Port Authority's Joint Study of Arterial Facilities, a $600million plan to improve highway access in the New York City area (equal to $ billion in ). The plan also included the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, the addition of a second deck to the George Washington Bridge, and the completion of connecting highways in and around the city. The Throgs Neck Bridge was to cost $93million. The span was needed because of increasing congestion on the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge west, which was nearing its traffic capacity by the late 1950s. Traffic loads on the Triborough and Bronx–Whitestone Bridges had more than doubled on both bridges after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The city and Port Authority came to a provisional agreement for the highway arterial plan in late March 1955, and the plan was officially approved by the New York state legislature two weeks later. Initially, the bridge approach on the Queens side was controversial because of the number of people who would be displaced, and there were proposals to scrap the bridge entirely. In September 1956, Queens borough leaders agreed on the location for the Queens approach of the Throgs Neck Bridge. From the Queens anchorage, the approach would descend to a point east of the Clearview Golf Course, approximately between 206th and 207th Streets, and continue south as the Clearview Expressway. This routing would displace 421 homes, compared to 860 in the original plan. Shortly after the arterial plan was approved, drivers on the Triborough and Bronx–Whitestone Bridges were surveyed in order to assess demand for the Throgs Neck Bridge. However, by February 1956, the funding for the Throgs Neck Bridge had not yet been acquired. In January 1957, the Port Authority provided $13million in funding for the New York City arterial plan, and the New York state government gave another $469million. Throgs Neck top

With funding secured, the Throgs Neck Bridge was ready for the start of construction. Then, at the end of March 1957, the New York state legislature suddenly changed the approach route for the Throgs Neck and Narrows Bridges without the city's knowledge. The city then decided to defer any decision on either bridge for a year because both bridges' approaches would require potentially controversial home relocations. One plan had the Throgs Neck Bridge approach in Queens connect directly to a road paralleling the

, rather than to the proposed Clearview Expressway. TBTA officials warned that the Throgs Neck Bridge could not be approved for construction until an approach route was finalized. The revised approach routes for both the Narrows and the Throgs Neck bridges were approved that June, which allowed construction on both crossings to begin. As a result of the revisions to the Clearview Expressway approach, the cost estimate for the Throgs Neck Bridge increased to $126million. The city approved the construction of the bridge that July. A final obstacle was removed in August, when the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

passed a bill stating that the construction of the proposed bridge over the SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler was not a breach of a prior land

conveyance Conveyance may refer to: * Conveyance, the documentation of the transfer of ownership of land from one party to another—see conveyancing * Public conveyance, a shared passenger transportation service * A means of transport * Water conveyance, a ...

, and authorized the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

to give the New York state government some land for the bridge's construction. The SUNY Maritime College would receive of land in exchange for an

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

to allow the bridge to be constructed over the college.

Construction

TBTA chairman Moses commissioned Othmar Ammann for the construction of the Throgs Neck Bridge. This was Ammann's first long-span bridge project since 1931, which saw the dedication of the

over 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 ...

. A

groundbreaking ceremony Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

for the Throgs Neck Bridge occurred at the SUNY Maritime College on October 22, 1957. At the time, the approach roads alone were expected to cost $51million, nearly half of the total bridge cost. It was expected that the bridge would be complete by 1961. A month later, six construction contracts worth $42.5million were awarded, representing nearly half of the span's cost. The contract for the suspension towers' metal was awarded to

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

at a cost of $10.2million, and the contract for the towers' concrete went to Merrit, Chapman and Scott for $7.5million. The suspension cables would then be built by

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

for $6.3million. Work on the Queens anchorage began in March 1958. The steel

caissons Caisson (French for "box") may refer to: * Caisson (Asian architecture), a spider web ceiling * Caisson (engineering), a sealed underwater structure * Caisson (lock gate), a gate for a dock or lock, constructed as a floating caisson * Caisson (pe ...

for the Throgs Neck Bridge were shipped up the East River that summer. The steel assembly for the first of the two suspension towers were installed in April 1959. Afterward, the suspension towers were installed in pieces. Each piece measured tall by around. Work on the towers proceeded quickly; by September 1959, the Bronx suspension tower was fully completed, and the Queens tower was 60% completed. However, a steelworkers' strike in October 1959 threatened to delay further completion. By January 1960, both towers of the Throgs Neck Bridge had been completed, and the first wire between the two suspension towers had been installed. This cable marked the location of the future bridge deck, but in the interim, it would be one of six wires that would support temporary

catwalks A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...

between the suspension towers. The spinning of the main cables between the tops of each suspension tower began in March. The wires for the cables were spun from reels near the base of the bridge, and then pulled across to the opposite side by two wheels, one at each bridge tower. The cables were fully spun by June 1960, and the vertical suspender cables connecting the main cables with the deck were installed. The steel girder sections that comprised the bridge deck were prefabricated at another location and then shipped to the site of the Throgs Neck Bridge. Each section measured and weighed . The sections were installed on the bridge at a rate of two per day. Installation of the deck started at each suspension tower and continued outward in either direction, extending toward the center and the approach viaducts on each side. Afterward, concrete was poured atop the steel sections. The steelwork for the roadway was completed in summer 1960, and work on constructing the Throgs Neck Bridge's approaches progressed simultaneously. The Queens approach viaduct had been completed up to the suspension span in September 1960. The final work on the bridge consisted of sheathing the main cables, as well as paving the roadway with asphalt. By December 1960, tollbooths for the bridge were being installed, and a definite opening date had been set for the next month.

Opening and early years

The Throgs Neck Bridge opened with a short ceremony on January 11, 1961; its total construction cost had been $92million. The bridge opened along with a segment of the Clearview Expressway southward to 73rd Avenue in

Fresh Meadows Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway; to the west by Pomo ...

, as well as the Cross Bronx and Throgs Neck Expressways in the Bronx. The bridge's opening was attended by Robert Moses, as well as mayor

Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...

, lieutenant governor Malcolm Wilson, City Council president

Abe Stark Abe Stark (September 28, 1894 – July 2, 1972) was an American businessman and politician. Born on the Lower East Side in New York City, he became a tailor and owned a clothing store at 1514 Pitkin Avenue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. ...

, and Queens borough president

John T. Clancy John Thomas Clancy (April 11, 1903 – May 14, 1985Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', May 17, 1985. Accessed November 29, 2017. "Mr. Clancy was born in Long Island City, the son of Patrick J. Clancy, a grocer, and Mary Clancy, both natives ...

. The opening of the Throgs Neck Bridge had been accelerated in advance of the start of the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

at nearby

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park, or simply Flushing Meadows, is a public park in the northern part of Queens, New York City. It is bounded by I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) on the east, Grand Central Par ...

. Immediately after the bridge's opening ceremony, the delegation attended the opening of a World's Fair attraction at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The bridge's opening drew protests from homeowners in Queens who had been forced to relocate due to the construction of the Clearview Expressway. Several dozen women walked across the bridge, holding signs and attempting to block the first vehicles driving on the bridge. It was expected that the Throgs Neck Bridge's opening would initially cause 15million vehicles annually to be diverted to the span from other bridges, and by 1981, the bridge would carry 37.5million vehicles annually. Within the first twelve hours of the bridge's opening, 20,000 vehicles had used the bridge. The Throgs Neck Bridge had carried 16.4million vehicles by the end of the year, and the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge recorded a corresponding 40% decline in traffic in 1961. The Throgs Neck Bridge was originally designated as part of

I-78 Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland T ...

, which extended south to

Hillside Avenue Hillside may refer to the side of a hill. Places Australia *Hillside mine, a proposed mine on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia * Hillside, New South Wales *Hillside, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne Canada * Hillside, Nova Scotia United Kin ...

( NY 25), the southern terminus of the Clearview Expressway. I-78 was to continue south and west across Queens,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and

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 ...

to 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 ...

. Ultimately, nearly all sections of I-78 between the Holland Tunnel and Hillside Avenue were canceled by Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

in 1971. This resulted in the renumbering of all of I-78 north of Hillside Avenue, including the Throgs Neck Bridge, to I-295 on January 1, 1970.

Later years

The Throgs Neck Bridge's deck was renovated in 1983. That July, the MTA initially signed a contract to use steel imported from Japan and South Korea, around the same time that Governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...

signed a "Buy American" law giving preference to American steel. The contract was controversial because, although importing Asian steel would have been $3.5million cheaper than buying American steel, it would have also disadvantaged American workers. Subsequently, Cuomo tried to get the MTA to reverse its decision. In September 1983, Cuomo signed an executive order mandating the use of American steel, and the MTA narrowly voted to reverse its prior decision. The construction of the Throgs Neck Bridge's Queens approaches bisected Clearview Park (renamed Little Bay Park in 1973), which had been established by the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

in 1950. The park's athletic fields received a $666,000 refurbishment in 1998, and a bicycle path and roller hockey rink were installed in 1999 at a cost of $1.2million. After a June 2005 inspection of the Throgs Neck Bridge, damage was found on the approach viaducts. The damage was found to be more severe away from the median barrier. As a result, heavy trucks carrying over 40 tons were permitted to use the bridge only between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., when traffic was lightest. The program was canceled in 2007, and overweight vehicles were only allowed to use the bridge with a special permit. , heavy trucks carrying less than , as well as selected heavy trucks carrying more than 40tons with permits, may use the Throgs Neck Bridge; all other trucks are restricted. In 2019, the MTA announced that it would replace the concrete deck with a steel deck as part of a $336 million project . Work on replacing the deck began in September 2020. Five of the bridge's six lanes remained open for the duration of the project. The MTA installed a

movable barrier A barrier transfer machine, also known as zipper machine or road zipper, is a type heavy vehicle that is used to transfer concrete lane dividers, such as jersey barriers, which are used to relieve traffic congestion during rush hours. Many oth ...

, providing three lanes in the peak direction during weekday rush hours (toward the Bronx in the morning and toward Queens in the afternoon).

Tolls

, drivers pay $10.17 per car or $4.28 per motorcycle for tolls by mail/non-NYCSC E-Z Pass.

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencie ...

users with transponders issued by the New York E‑ZPass Customer Service Center pay $6.55 per car or $2.85 per motorcycle. Mid-Tier NYCSC E-Z Pass users pay $8.36 per car or $3.57 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. Originally, the toll plaza of the Throgs Neck Bridge, located on the Bronx side, contained 14 toll lanes. By 1996, the year that E-ZPass was introduced, it had been expanded to 20 lanes. The initial rollout of E-ZPass at the Throgs Neck Bridge caused large delays, as some of the toll lanes were dedicated exclusively to E-ZPass users, unlike at other MTA crossings that did not have dedicated E-ZPass lanes. In February 1998, the MTA discontinued the sale of toll tokens on the Throgs Neck Bridge. Throggs Neck residents stated that they could not easily access the E-ZPass lanes from the Harding Avenue entrance to the bridge, as the E-ZPass lanes were located toward the center of the tollbooth, while the bridge entrance was on the far-right side. Open-road cashless tolling began on September 30, 2017. The tollbooths, which were at the Bronx end of the bridge, have been gradually dismantled, and drivers are no longer able to pay cash at the bridge. Instead, cameras and

readers are mounted on new overhead gantries manufactured by

TransCore Roper Technologies, Inc. (formerly Roper Industries, Inc.) is an American diversified industrial company that produces engineered products for global niche markets. The company is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. Roper provides a wide range ...

near where the booths were located. A vehicle without 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.

Historical tolls

Incidents

A truck with faulty brakes ran into the bridge's toll booths on May 31, 1995. The next day, the same truck ran into the tollbooths again. Only the driver was injured. On July 10, 2009, during early-morning maintenance work to replace the deck, a construction worker's

blow torch A blowtorch, also referred to as a blowlamp, is an ambient air fuel-burning gas lamp used for applying flame and heat to various applications, usually metalworking. Early blowtorches used liquid fuel, carried in a refillable reservoir attache ...

sparked a

three-alarm fire One-alarm fires, two-alarm fires, three-alarm fires, etc., are categories classifying the seriousness of fires, commonly used in the United States and in Canada, particularly indicating the level of response by local authorities. The term multip ...

on the bridge. The fire closed the bridge for much of the day, sending traffic in both directions to the nearby

Whitestone Bridge Whitestone may refer to: Places * Whitestone, Alaska Whitestone is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. Its population was 71 as of the 2020 census. This is not to ...

. Three southbound lanes and two northbound lanes were quickly reopened, but the third lane remained closed for repairs for a month.

References

External links

*
Throgs Neck Bridge
a
nycroads.com
* * {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Throgs Neck Bridge , bridge signs = Toll plate yellow

, upstream =

, upstream signs = , downstream =

Bronx Whitestone Bridge The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

, downstream signs = Toll plate yellow

Bayside, Queens Bridges by Othmar Ammann Bridges completed in 1961 Bridges in Queens, New York Bridges in the Bronx Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges over the East River Historic American Engineering Record in New York City Road bridges in New York City Robert Moses projects Suspension bridges in New York City Throggs Neck, Bronx Toll bridges in New York City Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Bridge light displays