Washington Bridge

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Washington Bridge
Three of the bridges that cross the Harlem River are visible in this photo of the river: the High Bridge (a now-closed pedestrian bridge) in the foreground; the Alexander Hamilton Bridge (part of Interstate 95); and the Washington Bridge furthest away. In this photo, looking north, the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan is on the left and the Bronx is on the right)
Carries	6 lanes of roadway and pedestrians
Crosses	Harlem River
Locale	Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City
Maintained by	New York City Department of Transportation
Design	Arch bridge
Longest span	510 feet
Total length	2,375 feet
Vertical clearance	135 feet
Opening date	December 1, 1888

For the bridge in Rhode Island, see Washington Bridge (Providence). For the bridge in Minneapolis, see Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis). For the bridge in New York that crosses the Hudson River, see George Washington Bridge.

The Washington Bridge carries six lanes of traffic (plus sidewalks on both sides) over the Harlem River in New York City between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, connecting 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to University Avenue in the Bronx. Ramps at either end of the bridge connect to the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and the Cross-Bronx Expressway. The bridge is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Transportation. It once carried U.S. Route 1, which now travels over the Alexander Hamilton Bridge.

The total length of the bridge, including approaches, is 2,375 feet. The parallel main spans of the steel arch bridge stretch 510 feet over the Harlem River, providing 135 feet of horizontal clearance.

This bridge is a two-hinged arch bridge designed by William R. Hutton and Edward H. Kendall, based on a design submitted by C. C. Schneider that was pared down to bring the bridge's cost to $3 million. The bridge features steel-arch construction with two 510-foot-long main spans and masonry approaches. The Washington Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic on December 1, 1888. The plan had been to open the bridge to vehicular traffic on February 22, 1889 — Washington's Birthday and the centennial anniversary of the first Presidency — but the full opening was delayed until December 1889.

After completion of the George Washington Bridge in 1931, traffic off the Bridge into the Bronx traveled over the Washington Bridge. Starting in the 1940s, ramps were built to connect the western end of the bridge to the 178th Street and 179th Street tunnels leading to the George Washington Bridge. This allowed traffic to and from New Jersey to bypass the congested local streets of upper Manhattan.

The Alexander Hamilton Bridge was planned in the mid-1950s to provide a direct connection between Robert Moses' proposed Trans-Manhattan and Cross-Bronx Expressways and to accommodate the additional traffic resulting from the addition of the six-lane lower level to the George Washington Bridge. The completion of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in 1963 diverted much of the traffic away from the Washington Bridge.

edit River crossings in New York City
Manhattan	Broadway Bridge
Manhattan – Bronx	Triborough Bridge – Willis Avenue Bridge – Third Avenue Bridge – Madison Avenue Bridge – 145th Street Bridge – Macombs Dam Bridge – High Bridge – Alexander Hamilton Bridge – Washington Bridge – University Heights Bridge – Henry Hudson Bridge
Manhattan – Brooklyn	Brooklyn Battery Tunnel – Brooklyn Bridge – Manhattan Bridge – Williamsburg Bridge
Manhattan – Queens	Triborough Bridge – Queens Midtown Tunnel – Queensboro Bridge – Roosevelt Island Bridge
Manhattan – New Jersey	George Washington Bridge – Lincoln Tunnel – Holland Tunnel
Bronx – Queens	Bronx Whitestone Bridge – Throgs Neck Bridge – Triborough Bridge
Brooklyn – Queens	Marine Parkway Bridge
Brooklyn – Staten Island	Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Staten Island – New Jersey	Bayonne Bridge – Goethals Bridge – Outerbridge Crossing
Queens	Cross Bay Bridge – Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge