Location: New York Transit Museum
Dates: June 27, 2006- Present
In the 1920’s and 1930’s, New York City traffic increased rapidly as the population grew and car ownership became more common. Creating a network of high-speed roadways was crucial for the city’s continued growth, and with four of the five boroughs on islands, bridges would be the key to regional mobility. The first bridges to span the East River, the Brooklyn (1886), Williamsburg (1903), Manhattan (1909), and Queensboro (1909), carried rail and horse drawn vehicles. These bridges deposited traffic onto local streets, which eventually became clogged with cars. With the goal of linking the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx, the Triborough Bridge was designed exclusively for automobile traffic and its construction was coordinated with new approaches, connecting it to the region’s emerging highway system.
