Broadway Bridge (Manhattan)

Broadway Bridge
From the west
Coordinates40°52′25″N 73°54′40″W / 40.87361°N 73.91111°W / 40.87361; -73.91111
Carries6 lanes of US 9 (Broadway) (lower)
3 tracks of IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ("1" train train) (upper)
CrossesHarlem River Ship Canal
LocaleManhattan, New York City
Maintained byNew York City Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignDouble-decked vertical lift bridge
Total length558 feet (170 m)
Longest span304 feet (93 m)
Clearance below136 feet (41 m) (raised)
25 feet (7.6 m) (lowered)
History
OpenedCurrent span: December 26, 1960 (subway), January 1961 (highway)
Statistics
Daily traffic36,027 (2016)[1]
Location
Map

The Broadway Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge across the Harlem River Ship Canal in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It connects the neighborhoods of Inwood on Manhattan Island and Marble Hill on the mainland. The bridge consists of two decks. The lower deck carries Broadway, which is designated as U.S. Route 9 at this location. The upper deck carries the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, serving the 1 train.

The site was previously occupied by two successive swing bridges. The first, known as the Harlem Ship Canal Bridge, was built between 1893 and 1895 to cross the canal, which had been constructed to bypass a meandering alignment of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. By the first decade of the 20th century, the construction of the city's first subway line had made the original bridge obsolete, and a double-decker span called the 225th Street Bridge was built to accommodate the subway line above highway traffic. Between 1905 and 1906, the second bridge was installed, and the first bridge was relocated southward on the Harlem River, becoming the University Heights Bridge.

The current bridge was constructed between 1957 and 1962 to replace the second span. It contains a navigable channel 304 feet (93 m) wide. The bridge provides 136 feet (41 m) of vertical clearance when it is in the open position and 25 feet (7.6 m) of vertical clearance in the closed position.

  1. ^ "New York City Bridge Traffic Volumes" (PDF). New York City Department of Transportation. 2016. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.