Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge: Difference between revisions

 

===Additional deck and later years===

Although the bridge was constructed with only one six-lane roadway, Ammann had provided extra trusses to support a potential second roadway underneath the main deck.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%25201963%2520%2520Grayscale%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%25201963%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201091.pdf|title=Work Rushed On Bridge to Staten Island|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=February 5, 1963|work=Yonkers Herald Statesman|access-date=March 14, 2018|page=3|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]|archive-date=April 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407181909/https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252010%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%25201963%2520%2520Grayscale%2FYonkers%2520NY%2520Herald%2520Statesman%25201963%2520%2520Grayscale%2520-%25201091.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> These trusses, which were used to strengthen the bridge, were a design alteration that was added to many bridges in the aftermath of the [[Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940)|Tacoma Narrows Bridge]] collapse in 1940.<ref name="Talese Book" />{{Rp|45}} The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge became so popular among motorists that in March 1969, the TBTA decided to erect the lower deck<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/03/31/archives/narrows-bridge-to-get-2d-deck-in-midjune.html|title=Narrows Bridge to Get 2D Deck in Mid-June|last=Ingraham|first=Joseph C.|date=March 31, 1969|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=March 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317103113/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/03/31/archives/narrows-bridge-to-get-2d-deck-in-midjune.html|url-status=live}}</ref> at a cost of $22{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="Caro 1974" />{{rp|1130}} The Verrazzano Bridge had not been expected to carry enough traffic to necessitate a second deck until 1978, but traffic patterns over the previous five years had demonstrated the need for extra capacity. By contrast, a lower deck on the George Washington Bridge, connecting New Jersey and Upper Manhattan, had not been built until 31 years after the bridge's 1931 opening.<ref name="nyt19690629">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/06/29/archives/2d-level-of-verrazano-bridge-opens-11-years-ahead-of-plan.html|title=2d Level of Verrazano Bridge Opens 11 Years Ahead of Plan|last=Schumach|first=Murray|date=June 29, 1969|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=March 17, 2018|archive-date=November 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102193012/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20611FA3D5D1A7B93CBAB178DD85F4D8685F9|url-status=live}}</ref> The new six-lane deck opened on June 28, 1969.<ref name="nyt19690629" /> Originally, the Verrazzano Bridge's Brooklyn end was also supposed to connect to the planned [[Cross-Brooklyn Expressway]], [[New York State Route 878]], and [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]], but the Cross-Brooklyn Expressway project was canceled in 1969.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/07/17/archives/mayor-drops-plans-for-express-roads-across-2-boroughs-mayor.html|title=Mayor Drops Plans For Express Roads Across 2 Boroughs; Mayor Abandons Plans for Expressways Across Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan|last=Carroll|first=Maurice|date=July 17, 1969|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=March 17, 2018|archive-date=March 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315135955/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/07/17/archives/mayor-drops-plans-for-express-roads-across-2-boroughs-mayor.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

 

| caption2 = Rebuilt upper deck, 2022

| direction = vertical

}}

In 2014, the city began a $1.5{{nbsp}}billion reconstruction project on the bridge. At the time, it was expected to take up to 25 years.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barone|first=Vincent|title=Decades of Construction Being Planned for Verrazano-Narrows Bridge|website=Staten Island Advance|date=October 15, 2015|url=http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/decades_of_necessary_construct.html|access-date=March 27, 2016|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409032841/http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/decades_of_necessary_construct.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The first phase, which cost $235{{nbsp}}million and lasted until 2017, included replacing the existing upper deck sections with new [[orthotropic deck]] sections, removing the divider on the upper deck, and adding a seventh lane on the upper deck, which was to be used as a [[high-occupancy vehicle lane|high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Katinas|first=Paula|title=Verrazano Bridge Repair Work Brings Lane Closure Until 2017|website=Brooklyn Eagle|date=March 26, 2016|url=http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/3/10/verrazano-bridge-repair-work-brings-lane-closure-until-2017|access-date=March 27, 2016|archive-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407013609/http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/3/10/verrazano-bridge-repair-work-brings-lane-closure-until-2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The ramps within the [[Belt Parkway]] interchange were also rearranged to allow for a ramp to be constructed for the new HOV lane on the upper deck. The parts for this deck were ordered from [[China]] because the parts that the MTA required were no longer manufactured in the United States.<ref>{{cite news|title=MTA Outsources $235M Verrazano Revamp|last=Adams Otis|first=Ginger|website=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]]|location=New York|date=July 1, 2013|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta-outsources-235m-verrazano-revamp-article-1.1387639|access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=March 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164732/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta-outsources-235m-verrazano-revamp-article-1.1387639|url-status=live}}</ref>