Robert F. Kennedy 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[3] in New York City. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. The viaducts cross Randalls and Wards Islands, previously two islands and now joined by landfill.
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge
(Triborough Bridge)
(Triborough Bridge)
8 lanes of 
I-278 Toll (Bronx and Queens spans)
6 lanes of NY 900G (Manhattan span)
New York City, United States
Robert F. Kennedy Bridge
RFK Triborough Bridge, Triboro Bridge, RFK Bridge
2,780 feet (850 m) (Queens span)
770 feet (230 m) (Manhattan span)
1,600 feet (490 m) (Bronx span)
98 feet (30 m) (Queens span)
1,380 feet (420 m) (Queens span)
310 feet (94 m) (Manhattan span)
383 feet (117 m) (Bronx span)
14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m) (Queens/Bronx spans)
13 feet 10 inches (4.22 m) (Manhattan span)
143 feet (44 m) (Queens span)
135 feet (41 m) (Manhattan span when raised)
55 feet (17 m) (Bronx span)
$60,300,000[1]
July 11, 1936
As of August 6, 2023, $11.19 (Tolls By Mail and non-New York E-ZPass); $6.94 (New York E-ZPass); $9.11 (Mid-Tier NYCSC E-Z Pass)
The RFK 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.
The three primary bridges of the RFK Bridge complex are:[3]
These three bridges are connected by an elevated highway viaduct across Randalls and Wards Islands and 14 miles (23 km) of support roads. The viaduct includes a smaller span across the former site of Little Hell Gate, which separated Randalls and Wards Islands.[3][4] Also part of the complex is a grade-separated T-interchange on Randalls Island, which sorted out traffic in a way that ensured that drivers paid a toll at only one bank of tollbooths.[5] The tollbooths have since been removed, and all tolls are collected electronically at the approaches to each bridge.
The bridge complex was designed by Allston Dana with the collaboration of Othmar Ammann and architect Aymar Embury II,[6] and has been called "not a bridge so much as a traffic machine, the largest ever built".[5] The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the Triborough Bridge Project as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986.[7] The bridge is owned and operated by MTA Bridges and Tunnels (formally the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, or TBTA), an affiliate of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
New York State Route 900G
New York State Route 900G
0.66 mi[22] (1,060 m)
Operational history[edit]
Opening[edit]
The toll rates for the bridge were decided upon in March 1936.[222] By May, the opening ceremonies for both the Triborough Bridge and the Downing Stadium were scheduled for July 11.[223] The dedication was scheduled to occur on the Manhattan lift span, prompting objections from both Bronx and Queens officials.[224] Due to the previous conflicts between President Roosevelt and Robert Moses, the attendance of the former was not certain until two weeks before the ceremony.[225] PWA administrator Ickes's attendance was finalized only four days beforehand.[226]
The completed structure, described by The New York Times as a "Y-shaped sky highway",[227] was dedicated on Saturday, July 11, 1936, along with Downing Stadium.[227][228] The ceremony for the Triborough Bridge was held at the interchange plaza, and was attended by Roosevelt, La Guardia, Lehman, Ickes, and Postmaster General James A. Farley, who all gave speeches.[228][229] Robert Moses acted as the master of ceremonies.[227][217] The ceremonies were broadcast nationwide via radio,[217] and a parade was also held on 125th Street in Manhattan to celebrate the bridge's opening.[230] Queens residents, excluded from the official ceremony, hosted an unofficial gathering in Astoria.[156] The Triborough Bridge opened to the general public at 1:30 p.m.,[231] and by that midnight an estimated 200,000 people had visited the bridge.[227][11] The bridge saw 40,000 vehicles on its first full day, July 12,[232] and about 1,000 vehicles an hour on July 13, its first full weekdays.[233] The TBA recorded 242,000 total vehicles in the bridge's first week,[234] 953,100 during the first month,[235] and 2.7 million in its first three months.[236]
After the bridge's opening, one Queens civic group predicted that the bridge would increase real-estate values in Queens and on Long Island at large.[237] The ferry between Yorkville, Manhattan, and Astoria, Queens, was made redundant by the new Triborough Bridge,[238][239] and the city had closed the ferry by the end of July 1936.[240] Traffic on the Queensboro Bridge, the only other vehicular bridge that connected Manhattan and Queens, declined after the Triborough Bridge opened,[241] though not by as much as city officials had anticipated.[242] In 1937, the first full year of the bridge's operation, it generated $2.85 million (equivalent to $60.40 million in 2023) in revenue from 11.18 million vehicles.[243] This was far more than the 8 million vehicles that TBA officials had originally anticipated.[244] The American Institute of Steel Construction declared the Triborough Bridge the "most beautiful" steel bridge constructed during 1936.[245] Newsday, writing retrospectively in 1994, said: "More than any other structure, the Triborough unified the boroughs of New York City."[156]
Notes
Bibliography