Queensboro Bridge
Sign in to saveAlso known as Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, 59th Street Bridge, 59th St Bridge, Ed Koch Bridge, The 59th Street Bridge
bridge in New York City
Key facts
- Carries
- 8 lanes (4 upper, 4 lower) of NY 25 1 lane for pedestrians 1 lane for bicycles
- Crosses
- East River
- Locale
- New York City ( Manhattan – Queens )
- Official name
- Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge
- Other name s
- 59th Street Bridge, Blackwell Island Bridge
- Maintained by
- New York City Department of Transportation
- Design
- Double-decked cantilever bridge
- Total length
- 7,449 ft (2,270 m)
- Width
- 100 ft (30 m)
- Height
- 350 ft (110 m)
- Longest span
- 1,182 ft (360 m) (west span)
- Clearance above
- 12 feet (3.7 m) (upper level)
- Clearance below
- 130 ft (40 m)
- Architect
- Henry Hornbostel
- Designer
- Gustav Lindenthal
- Engineering design by
- R. S. Buck
- Opened
- March 30, 1909 ; 117 years ago ( 1909-03-30 )
- Daily traffic
- 160,111 (2019)
via Wikipedia infobox
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the East Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods in Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island. Because the western end of the bridge connects to 59th Street in Manhattan, it is also called the 59th Street Bridge. The bridge consists of five steel spans measuring 3,725 ft (1,135 m) long; including approaches, its total length is 7,449 ft (2,270 m).
The Queensboro Bridge carries New York State Route 25 (NY 25), which terminates at the bridge's western end in Manhattan. The bridge has two levels: an upper level with a pair of two-lane roadways, and a lower level with four vehicular lanes flanked by a walkway and a bike lane. The western leg of the Queensboro Bridge is paralleled on its northern side by the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The bridge is one of four vehicular bridges directly connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, along with the Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges to the south. It lies along the courses of the New York City Marathon and the Five Boro Bike Tour.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Queensboro Bridge” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.