Editing Brooklyn Bridge (section)

=== 1910s to 1940s ===
Tolls on the bridge were abolished in 1911.<ref name=nyt19110719/><ref name=n33421526/> In addition, the city government passed a bill to officially name the structure the "Brooklyn Bridge" in January 1915.<ref name="brooklyn-by-name">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdCL5VWmM4MC&pg=PA41 |title=Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges, And More .. |last1=Benardo |first1=Leonard |last2=Weiss |first2=Jennifer |date=2006 |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |isbn=9780814799468 |quote=A Board of Aldermen resolution on January 26, 1915, made it official. |page=41 |access-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-date=January 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125005046/https://books.google.com/books?id=xdCL5VWmM4MC&pg=PA41#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ostensibly in an attempt to reduce traffic on nearby city streets, [[Grover Whalen]], the commissioner of Plant and Structures, banned motor vehicles from the Brooklyn Bridge on July 6, 1922.<ref name="nyt19220707">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/07/archives/brooklyn-bridge-closed-to-motor-traffic-manhattan-bridge-to.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge Closed to Motor Traffic, Manhattan Bridge to Horse-Drawn Vehicles|date=July 7, 1922|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 1, 2019|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145523/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/07/archives/brooklyn-bridge-closed-to-motor-traffic-manhattan-bridge-to.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The real reason for the ban was an incident the same year where two cables slipped due to high traffic loads.<ref name="tribune19220729" /><ref name="nyt19220729">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/29/archives/brooklyn-bridge-safe-but-rebuild-it-whalen-advises-two-big-cables.html|title=Brooklyn Bridge Safe, But Rebuild It, Whalen Advises; Two Big Cables Slip and the Capacity of the Structure Has Been Reached|date=July 29, 1922|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 2, 2019|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702151424/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/29/archives/brooklyn-bridge-safe-but-rebuild-it-whalen-advises-two-big-cables.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Both Whalen and Roebling called for the renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge and the construction of a parallel bridge, though the parallel bridge was never built.<ref name="tribune19220729" /><ref name="nyt19220729" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/wants-new-bridge-at-twentythird-st-whalen-would-build-another-span.html|title=Wants New Bridge At Twenty-Third St.; Whalen Would Build Another Span to Brooklyn and Keep Old Bridge, Too|date=July 30, 1922|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 2, 2019|archive-date=July 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702145913/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/wants-new-bridge-at-twentythird-st-whalen-would-build-another-span.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Whalen's successor William Wirt Mills announced in 1924 that a new wood-block pavement would be installed, permitting motor vehicles to use the bridge again;<ref name="p511453785">{{cite news |date=December 27, 1924 |title=Brooklyn Bridge Motor Traffic to Be Reopened Soon |page=4 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|511453785}}}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1924 p079">{{cite web |date=December 18, 1924 |title=May 1 to See Autos on Brooklyn Bridge; Passenger Traffic Will Be Resumed by Then, Says Commissioner Mills. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/12/18/archives/may-1-to-see-autos-on-brooklyn-bridge-passenger-traffic-will-be.html |access-date=October 19, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104183836/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/12/18/archives/may-1-to-see-autos-on-brooklyn-bridge-passenger-traffic-will-be.html |url-status=live }}</ref> motor traffic was again allowed on the bridge starting on May 12, 1925.<ref name="The New York Times 1925 e658">{{cite web |date=May 12, 1925 |title=To Reopen Brooklyn Bridge To Passenger Autos Today |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/12/archives/to-reopen-brooklyn-bridge-to-passenger-autos-today.html |access-date=October 19, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103174625/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/12/archives/to-reopen-brooklyn-bridge-to-passenger-autos-today.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p553994510">{{cite news |date=May 12, 1925 |title=Vehicles on Brooklyn Bridge |page=3 |work=The Hartford Courant |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|553994510}}}}</ref>

As part of an experiment, starting in November 1946, the Manhattan-bound roadway carried Brooklyn-bound traffic during the evening rush hours. The experiment ended after two months due to complaints about congestion.<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 15, 1947|title=Gripes Ended 1-Way Brooklyn Bridge Test|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-gripes-ended-1/138813792/|access-date=January 15, 2024|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|pages=16|archive-date=January 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115201306/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-gripes-ended-1/138813792/|url-status=live}}</ref>