Olympian sprint!
Every bridge across the East River and the tunnels under it has been riddled with controversy, except the Whitestone Bridge. The World Fair of 1939 in Flushing Meadow Park required a quick and reliable link of adequate capacity between the Bronx and Queens. The Whitestone Bridge emerged from the approach roads and from under the river in a magical and record-breaking 23 months. This was even though the bridge required the sacrifice of some valuable residential realty in Queens. No pontoon by any yardstick, the Whitestone Bridge is a beautiful and durable structure to boot! It also provides an alternative to the Triborough Bridge during times of peak traffic loads A link between Queens and the Bronx was first mooted around 1900, but actual construction did not start until 1936, when the city woke up to the prospect of the World Fair less than 3 years away. Since the residents of Queens were instrumental for stalling the project for over 3 decades, one may assume that they did not relish close liaison with the Bronx! The very tight deadline within which the Whitestone Bridge had to be built brought out some of the best skills of the designers and engineers involved. The towers used a revolutionary rigid frame plan that enabled them to start tall and in place within no more than 18 days. Their foundations lie in the hard rock found under parts of the East River. The rushed construction was not without controversy. The original Whitestone Bridge design omitted conventional trusses for rigid strength. This turned out to be an error decades later and had to be corrected. Ferry Point Park in the Bronx is a delightful recreation area that has been gifted to the local community as a lasting adjunct to the Whitestone Park. The World Fair wound up long ago, but this enjoyable open space is a permanent benefit for people that they would probably not had without the bridge. The Francis Lewis Park is a similar benefit for the Queens side of the Whitestone Bridge. The Bruckner Expressway, the Hutchinson River Parkway, the Cross Island Parkway and the Whitestone Expressway are the 4 key arteries that interlock through the Whitestone Bridge, and help people get around. It has a very significant part to play in bringing certain inner parts of New York within reach of the surrounding set of highways. The bridge also has special significance for the residential communities of Malba, Whitestone, Unionport and Schuylerville. More than 100 thousand vehicles use the Whitestone Bridge everyday. A major $ 300 million project to extend the working life of the structure is underway.
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The Whitestone Bridge that connects the Bronx and 