Editing Queensboro Bridge (section)

==== 1990s renovations ====
[[File:Queensboro Bridge from East River Greenway.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.2|Queensboro Bridge at dusk, as seen from [[East River Greenway]] in [[Manhattan]], 2020]]The [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] (MTA) proposed a rail link to [[LaGuardia Airport|LaGuardia]] and JFK airports in 1990;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sims |first=Calvin |date=March 18, 1990 |title=M.T.A. Proposes Rail Line to Link Major Airports |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/18/nyregion/mta-proposes-rail-line-to-link-major-airports.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309040906/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/18/nyregion/mta-proposes-rail-line-to-link-major-airports.html |archive-date=March 9, 2016}}</ref> the line, which would have used the Queensboro Bridge, was canceled in 1995.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levy |first=Clifford J. |date=February 1, 1995 |title=Port Authority May Scale Back Airport Rail Line |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/01/nyregion/port-authority-may-scale-back-airport-rail-line.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901210405/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/01/nyregion/port-authority-may-scale-back-airport-rail-line.html |archive-date=September 1, 2017}}</ref> A renovation of the Queensboro Bridge's lower level began in June 1990, when two Manhattan-bound lanes were closed.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 12, 1990 |title=Time for Bridge Traffic Jams |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/12/nyregion/time-for-bridge-traffic-jams.html |access-date=October 17, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Carper |first=Alison |date=June 12, 1990 |title=Bridge Work Delays Drivers |page=19 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278327390}}}}</ref> This phase of construction was supposed to cost $120 million.<ref name="p278370206" /> The lower deck's partial closure caused severe congestion in Queens, since part of the nearby [[Long Island Expressway]] was also closed for renovation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Perez-Rivas |first=Manuel |date=June 14, 1990 |title=Bridge Snarls Anger Queens Residents Want DOT to Speed Queensboro Repairs |page= |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278199121}}}}</ref> By 1993, the renovation was slated to be completed the next year.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 15, 1993 |title=Paved With Intentions |page=43 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278688150}}}}</ref> At that time, officials announced plans for a Manhattan-bound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the bridge during morning rush hours. A Queens-bound HOV lane during the afternoon was deemed infeasible due to heavy congestion in Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sachar |first=Emily |date=July 12, 1993 |title=Span to Get Carpool Lane |pages=12 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-span-to-get-carpool-lane/133631512/ |access-date=October 18, 2023}}</ref> The Manhattan-bound HOV lane opened in April 1994,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wald |first=Matthew L. |date=April 4, 1994 |title=Part of a Bridge Over East River Is Marked Out For Car Pools |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/04/nyregion/part-of-a-bridge-over-east-river-is-marked-out-for-car-pools.html |access-date=March 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rist |first=Curtis |date=April 18, 1994 |title=Bridge Carpool Lanes |pages=4 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-bridge-carpool-lanes/133631617/ |access-date=October 18, 2023}}</ref> and all lower-level lanes had reopened by that October.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sachar |first=Emily |date=October 2, 1994 |title=City on the Go Slow Lane Blues a Repairman With a Touch for Glass |page=A68 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278881930}}}}</ref>

The NYCDOT announced in 1995 that it would spend another $161 million to renovate the outer lower-level roadways starting the following year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Manns |first=Lisa |date=July 6, 1995 |title=Queensboro Bridge Slated For Repairs Once Again This Time, It's a $161M Project That Could Last 42 Months |page=B07 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278889776}}}}</ref> Two lanes were again closed for maintenance from April to September 1996, causing severe congestion.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ramirez |first=Anthony |date=October 20, 1996 |title=In Land of Shattered Nerves, Bridge Traffic Worsens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/20/nyregion/in-land-of-shattered-nerves-bridge-traffic-worsens.html |access-date=October 18, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Following complaints from residents near 57th Street,<ref>{{cite web |last=Pierre-Pierre |first=Garry |date=November 12, 1996 |title=Light Traffic On First Day Of Reversal At a Bridge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/12/nyregion/light-traffic-on-first-day-of-reversal-at-a-bridge.html |access-date=October 18, 2023 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> starting in October 1996, traffic on the upper level [[Left- and right-hand traffic|traveled on the left]] during rush hours to reduce [[noise pollution]] and traffic congestion. Vehicles headed for Queens had to enter at 62nd and 63rd Streets, which caused widespread confusion.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/31/nyregion/queensboro-bridge-entrances-will-exit.html |title=Queensboro Bridge Entrances Will Exit |last=Pierre-Pierre |first=Garry |date=October 31, 1996 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Winslow |first=Olivia |date=October 31, 1996 |title=Rudy Makes U-Turn On Queensboro |page=A29 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278985395}}}}</ref> After protests from Upper East Side residents, the original right-hand traffic pattern was reinstated on the upper level, and the southern lower roadway (used by pedestrians) was converted to an eastbound vehicular lane during the afternoon rush hour.<ref name="p278956052">{{cite news |last=Ramirez |first=Margaret |date=November 13, 1996 |title=Bridging the Gaffe Sparks Protest |page=A23 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278956052}}}}</ref><ref name="Kennedy 1996">{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Randy |date=November 11, 1996 |title=Queensboro To Restore Old Routes As of Today |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/11/nyregion/queensboro-to-restore-old-routes-as-of-today.html |access-date=December 18, 2017}}</ref> Some pedestrians and bikers opposed the conversion of the southern lower roadway, as they would have to wait for a van to take them across the bridge during weekday afternoons,<ref>{{cite news |last=Kheel |first=Curtis J. |date=November 12, 1996 |title=Protest at Q'boro Bridge |page=A22 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278988193}}}}</ref> but the new traffic pattern was implemented anyway.<ref name="p278956052" /><ref name="Kennedy 1996" />

In the late 1990s, the NYCDOT hired architect Walter Melvin to renovate the vaults under the Manhattan approach.<ref name="The New York Times 1996 i504" /> During the renovation of the main span, a scaffold collapsed in 1997, killing a worker.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cooper |first=Michael |date=September 30, 1997 |title=Worker Dies as Scaffold Collapses in Repair Job |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/30/nyregion/worker-dies-as-scaffold-collapses-in-repair-job.html |access-date=October 19, 2023 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The renovation of the northern lower roadway was completed in mid-1998.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hetter |first=Katia |date=July 19, 1998 |title=Trouble Over Bridged Water / City's Queensboro Lane Switch Plan Upsets Business |page=A24 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279107687}}}}</ref> That August, the NYCDOT implemented a new traffic pattern during evening rush hours, where the northern upper roadway carried eastbound traffic, giving the bridge six eastbound and three westbound lanes during that time. The northern lower roadway, which carried pedestrians and cyclists during mornings and off-peak hours, was converted into a westbound lane during the evening rush hour.<ref>{{cite news |last=James |first=Rutenberg |date=August 3, 1998 |title=City Bridgework Brings Rerouting |page=2 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|313599435}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Foley |first=Elizabeth |date=August 3, 1998 |title=Repairs Close Lanes On Bridge |page=A29 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279111933}}}}</ref> The NYCDOT's commissioner called the changes an "interim fix for nine to 14 months".<ref>{{cite news |last=Greene |first=Leonard |date=July 22, 1998 |title=Lane Changes for Queensboro |page=A29 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279111008}}}}</ref> By then, about 184,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, with slightly more eastbound than westbound vehicles using the bridge.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 26, 1999 |title=Quick Hit / Queensboro Bridge Daily Use 1997 |page=2 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|313699965}}}}</ref>