Editing Queensboro Bridge (section)

====1930s and 1940s modifications====
To reduce congestion, one civic group suggested a plaza at the bridge's Manhattan end in the early 1930s,<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1114281184}} |title=West End Plaza On Queensboro Bridge Advised: First Av, Association Head Suggests Means of Ending Congestion in Manhattan Tunnel Also Is Proposed Depressed Railway Tracks North and South Favored |date=August 30, 1931 |page=E12 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=August 30, 1931 |title=Traffic Problem at Queens Bridge; Plaza at Manhattan Entrance of Span Urged by First Avenue Association. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/08/30/archives/traffic-problem-at-queens-bridge-plaza-at-manhattan-entrance-of.html |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}}</ref> while Manhattan's borough president [[Samuel Levy (politician)|Samuel Levy]] proposed building an underpass to carry traffic on [[Second Avenue (Manhattan)|Second Avenue]] beneath the Manhattan end of the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101778533}} |title=Levy Plans Tunnel for 2d Av. Traffic: Proposes 10-Block Underpass Near the Queensboro Bridge to Ease Congestion |date=August 6, 1936 |page=21 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/08/06/archives/levy-plans-tunnel-for-2d-av-traffic-proposes-10block-underpass-near.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Precipitation had begun to corrode the bridge's steel supports, as the masonry work had never been completed;<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1221799640}} |title=Busy City Span Still Unfinished After 25 Years: Huge Piles of Hewn Granite Found Lying Unused Under Queensboro Bridge Seepage Damaging Piers Retired Contractor Tells of Vain Pleas to Mayors |date=May 7, 1933 |page=16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref> this prompted a [[grand jury]] investigation into the bridge's safety in 1934.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|100931933}} |title=Bridge Held Unfinished.: Grand Jury Found Peril in Granite on Queensborough Span. |date=June 9, 1934 |page=16 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/09/archives/bridge-held-unfinished-grand-jury-found-peril-in-granite-on.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Additionally, in mid-December of that year, the roadway was designated as part of [[New York State Route 25]] and  [[New York State Route 24]]  when those designations were extended.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1934-12-16|title=Mark Ways in the City; Directional Signs Show Routes Through New York -- Other News|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/16/archives/mark-ways-in-the-city-directional-signs-show-routes-through-new.html|access-date=2025-02-02|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1934, westbound motorists began using the upper southern roadway during weekday mornings, Sundays, and holiday evenings; the upper roadway continued to carry eastbound traffic at all other times.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 7, 1934 |title=O'Ryan Changes Rules For Queensboro Bridge: West-Bound Cars Use Upper Road 5 to 11 A. M. Weekdays |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=21 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114832420}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=June 7, 1934 |title=Schedule Revised on Queens Bridge: Upper Level Will Be Used for Manhattan-bound Cars Only Between 5 and 11 a.m. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/07/archives/schedule-revised-on-queens-bridge-upper-level-will-be-used-for.html |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=25 |id={{ProQuest|100941811}}}}</ref> To reduce congestion, [[traffic agent]]s began controlling traffic at each end of the bridge in July 1935,<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101400626}} |title=New Rule Speeds Traffic On Queensboro Bridge |date=July 29, 1935 |page=3 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/07/29/archives/new-rule-speeds-traffic-on-queensboro-bridge.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and [[lane control lights]] for the lower level's reversible lanes were installed later the same year.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101345904}} |title=New Lights to Control Queens Bridge Traffic |date=October 9, 1935 |page=20 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/10/09/archives/new-lights-to-control-queens-bridge-traffic.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=September 27, 1935 |title=New Traffic Light System to End Queensboro Bridge Congestion to Be Tested |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-new-traffic-light-s/138309567/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |pages=3}}</ref>

The bridge's wooden pavement also posed a hazard during rainy weather<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1329262709}} |title=Auto Injuries On Queensboro Bridge Up 45: Motorists Demand the City Replace Wooden Paving With Skid-Proof Surface Kracke Promises Relief Says 'Solution Is Near,' Laying Blame on 'Chiselers' |date=August 30, 1934 |page=17 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref> and made the bridge one of the city's most dangerous roadways by the mid-1930s.<ref name="n133327304">{{Cite news |date=June 19, 1983 |title=Closing of Footpath Provides a Footnote |pages=409 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-closing-of-footpath-provides/133327304/ |access-date=October 12, 2023}}</ref> This prompted local groups to call for the installation of a non-skid pavement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 30, 1935 |title=Failure to End Queensboro Span Skidding Scored |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-union-failure-to-end-queensboro-sp/138308763/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=Times Union |pages=8 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=February 6, 1934 |title=Harvey Would Prevent Queensboro Bridge Skids |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-harvey-would-prevent-queensbo/138308795/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=225}}</ref> Workers repaved the upper level in early 1935<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1221576310}} |title=Paving Finished in May On Queensboro Bridge |date=March 24, 1935 |page=26C |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref> and began installing an experimental concrete-and-steel pavement on the lower level that April.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1221958840}} |title=Paving Queensboro Bridge: Non-Skid Surface Being Laid at East End |date=April 23, 1935 |page=20 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 22, 1935 |title=Queensboro Bridge Skids Combatted |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-queensboro-bridge-skids-comba/138308957/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=320}}</ref> City officials also contemplated adding an [[asphalt concrete|asphalt]]-plank pavement to the bridge.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 19, 1935 |title=Debate Pavement for Queens Span |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-debate-pavement-for-queens-sp/138310134/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=302}}</ref> [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) laborers began repaving the lower level in March 1936;<ref name="p1330813117" /><ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101904771}} |title=Begin Repaving Bridge Lane |date=March 3, 1936 |page=29 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/03/03/archives/begin-repaving-bridge-lane.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The city government also planned to add lane markings to the lower roadway and convert the upper roadway permanently into a one-way road.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101765799}} |title=Speeds Queens Span Job: Kracke Orders Double Shift to Work on Repairing. |date=July 21, 1936 |page=19 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/21/archives/speeds-queens-span-job-kracke-orders-double-shift-to-work-on.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1237408577}} |title=Repaying Work On Queensboro Bridge Speeded: Third Lane Finished, Other 2 To Be Ready by Labor Day, Kracke Announces 2 Labor Shifts Assigned One-Direction Traffic Is Urged on Upper Roadway Speeds Bridge Repaving |date=July 21, 1936 |page=16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref> After delays caused by material and labor shortages,<ref name="p1330813117">{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1330813117}} |title=Delays in Repairing Project On Queensboro Bridge Bring Demand to End Car Congestion |date=June 21, 1936 |page=B6 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101595413}} |title=Queens Bridge Paving Faces a New Delay: Materials Running Short, But Kracke Says Job Can Be Done Before Cold Weather. |date=October 8, 1936 |page=25 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/10/08/archives/queens-bridge-paving-faces-a-new-delay-materials-running-short-but.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the repaving of the lower level was completed in June 1937.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1249370882}} |title=Delays in Repairing Project On Queensboro Bridge Bring Demand to End Car Congestion |date=June 18, 1937 |page=11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |id={{ProQuest|101998681}} |title=Mayor Dedicates New Bridge Road: $1,000,000 Five-lane Way on Queensboro Span is Termed Monument to WPA |date=June 18, 1937 |page=23 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/06/18/archives/mayor-dedicates-new-bridge-road-1000000-fivelane-way-on-queensboro.html |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> WPA laborers also completed the tops of the bridge's towers.<ref name="p1250464082">{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1250464082}} |title=Work Finished On Queensboro Bridge at Last: Opened in 1909, It Took W.P.A. To Complete Job Stopped 27 Years Ago Money Never Available Granite Attics Put, On and Girders Installed |date=August 8, 1937 |page=17 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646}}</ref> WPA workers began rebuilding the upper level pavement in July 1938,<ref>{{cite news |date=July 9, 1938 |title=Bridge Repaving Begins: 100 Men Start on Ten-Month Job on Queensboro Span |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/07/09/archives/bridge-repaving-begins-100-men-start-on-tenmonth-job-on-queensboro.html |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=15 |id={{ProQuest|102548891}}}}</ref> and the upper roadway closed that October,<ref>{{cite news |date=October 4, 1938 |title=Queens Bridge Repairs Snarl Traffic 5 Hours: Queensboro Span's Upper Level Is Shut and Cars Jam Up 31 Blocks, Westward to Madison Avenue |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=21 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1258501728}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 1, 1938 |title=Queensboro Bridge Deck to Be Repaved |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-queensboro-brid/138315587/ |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=2}}</ref> reopening two months later.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 20, 1938 |title=Mayor Reopens Queens Bridge Upper Highway: Assails His and W. P. A.'s Critics in Ceremonies on Repaved 'Bellyache Lane' |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=3A |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1244785081}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 20, 1938 |title=Mayor Reopens Queensboro Lane: Further Projects Promised to Borough as Traffic Resumes on Resurfaced Deck |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/12/20/archives/mayor-reopens-queensboro-lane-further-projects-promised-to-borough.html |access-date=January 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=52 |id={{ProQuest|102469900}}}}</ref>[[File:QBB pinacle 5BBT jeh.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|During the [[Five Boro Bike Tour]] in 2008]]

By 1942, the city government was planning to shutter and dismantle the Second Avenue Elevated tracks across the Queensboro Bridge;<ref>{{cite news |date=April 23, 1942 |title=City Preparing To Raze Rest Of 2d Ave. 'El': Will Discontinue Service Between Chatham Square and Queensboro Bridge |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1A |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1265933708}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=April 22, 1942 |title=Move to Raze 'El' on 2d Avenue Gains; Assembly Committee Reports Bill After WPB Pleas That Scrap Is Vital to War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/04/22/archives/move-to-raze-el-on-2d-avenue-gains-assembly-committee-reports-bill.html |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}}</ref> the line closed in June 1942,<ref name="p1266856712">{{cite news |date=July 8, 1942 |title=LaGuardia Draws First Spike Starting 2d Ave. El Demolition |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=17 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1266856712}}}}</ref> and it was demolished by the end of the year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1942 |title=2d Ave. 'El' Now Just 27,100 Tons of Scrap; Razing of 54th St. Pillar Ends an Eyesore |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/10/01/archives/2d-ave-el-now-just-27100-tons-of-scrap-razing-of-54th-st-pillar.html |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}}</ref> There were also plans in the mid-1940s to connect the bridge's Queens terminal with an expressway running to the [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Irwin |first=Don |date=August 8, 1944 |title=Moses Planning Highway Link With Idlewild: $7,100,000 Project to Cover 11 Miles in Queens May Get Under Way in Year Route of Proposed Road Linking Manhattan and Idlewild |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=26A |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1282951205}}}}</ref> The City Planning Commission proposed rebuilding the Manhattan end of the bridge in late 1946<ref name="nyt-1946-12-05">{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1946 |title=Chances in Budget Adopted by Board; $239,911,239 Total Exceeds by $282,035 The Program of Planning Commission |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/05/archives/chances-in-budget-adopted-by-board-239911239-total-exceeds-by.html |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=December 2, 1946 |title=Board to Drop Traffic Plans for Schools |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-board-to-drop-t/138914933/ |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=2}}</ref> and adding an eight-story parking garage above the approach viaduct.<ref name="nyt-1949-05-18">{{Cite news |last=Bennett |first=Charles G. |date=May 18, 1949 |title=Bridge Plaza Plan Drops Big Garage; New Designs for Queensboro's Manhattan Approaches Omit $3,210,000 Structure |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/18/archives/bridge-plaza-plan-drops-big-garage-new-designs-for-queensboros.html |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}}</ref> This proposal was postponed due to a lack of money.<ref name="nyt-1946-12-05" /><ref name="n138916180">{{Cite news |date=July 11, 1948 |title=Queensboro Bridge Gets New Paint Job—First in 8 Years |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-queensboro-bridge-gets-new-pa/138916180/ |access-date=January 17, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=78}}</ref> The bridge was repainted in 1948,<ref name="n138916180" /> and a $12 million renovation of the bridge was announced the next year.<ref name="p1327492208">{{cite news |last=Price |first=Ben |date=July 4, 1949 |title=Queensboro Bridge Scheduled For $11,995,000 Improvements: Two New Lanes for Upper Deck, A Bus Terminal and Better Approaches Included in Plans |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327492208}}}}</ref>{{efn-lr|About ${{Inflation|index=US-GDP|start_year=1949|value=12|fmt=c|r=0}} million in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}} The plan included two extra lanes on the upper level, new pavement, a bus terminal in Manhattan,<ref name="nyt-1949-05-18" /><ref name="p1327492208" /> and cloverleaf ramps at the Manhattan approach.<ref>{{cite web |title=Work Begins Soon on Bridge Plazas; First to Have Its Approaches Widened and Improved Will Be Williamsburg Span |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 1, 1949 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/01/archives/work-begins-soon-on-bridge-plazas-first-to-have-its-approaches.html |access-date=January 17, 2024}}</ref> The city government was concurrently planning the [[Roosevelt Island Bridge|Welfare Island Bridge]], which would allow people to access Welfare Island without needing to use the Queensboro Bridge's elevator.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 11, 1949 |title=City Urges Bridge to Welfare Island; $3,000,000 Project Advanced as Best Aid to Traffic on Queensboro Span |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/02/11/archives/city-urges-bridge-to-welfare-island-3000000-project-advanced-as.html |access-date=January 18, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=June 15, 1950 |title=Welfare I. Builds Aged Sick Haven |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-welfare-i-builds-aged-sick-h/138985486/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |pages=326}}</ref>