Pulaski Bridge

Pulaski Bridge
View downstream
Use	Road bridge, 6 lanes; Footpath
Crossing of	Newtown Creek
Location	New York City
Construction	Bascule bridge
Total length	860 m
Vehicles per day	37019 (2008)[1]
Construction costs	11.2 million USD[2]
Opening	10. September 1954
Planner	Frederick Zurmuhlen
Location
Coordinates	40° 44′ 21″ N, 73° 57′ 9″ W40.739166666667-73.9525Coordinates 40° 44′ 21″ N, 73° 57′ 9″ W

The Pulaski Bridge is a bridge in New York City that connects the two boroughs of Long Island City in Queens and Greenpoint in Brooklyn across Newtown Creek. It was named after Kazimierz Pułaski, a Polish general in the American War of Independence, because of the large Polish-American population in Greenpoint.^[3] It connects 11th Street in Queens with McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn.

The Pulaski Bridge was opened to traffic on September 10, 1954^[2]. When it opened, it replaced the nearby Vernon Avenue Bridge, which had connected Vernon Avenue in Long Island City to Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint since 1905 and was closed due to safety concerns^[3].

View of the Manhattan skyline from the Pulaski Bridge

The bascule bridge, designed by Frederick Zurmuhlen, carries a 6-lane roadway and a 2.7 m (6 ft) wide pedestrian walkway^[4] and passes over the water, Long Island Rail Road tracks, and the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. The pedestrian walkway is on the west, or downstream, side of the bridge, giving passersby a good view of the Manhattan skyline and other bridges, such as the Williamsburg Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge.

Between September 1991 and June 1994, the bridge was rehabilitated at a total cost of $38 million. During this time, the trafficable lanes were reduced to one in each direction in order to renew the roadway, replace electrical cables and give the structure a new coat of paint, among other things.^[5]

The Pulaski Bridge is on the route of the New York City Marathon and, almost exactly 21 km from the start, is considered the midpoint of the marathon course.^[6]

Web links

• Pulaski Bridge on Structurae

Individual references

1. ↑ New York City Bridge Traffic Volumes 2008 (PDF; 51.06 MB)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bridge Linking Greenpoint Section of Brooklyn and Long Island City Is Opened New York Times September 10, 1954.
3. ↑ ^{a b} F.Y.I. New York Times by George Robinson.
4. ↑ Facts on wirednewyork.com.
5. ↑ NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: GREENPOINT; Pulaski Project Nearing Finish New York Times, March 20, 1994.
6. ↑ The Course(Memento of 12 August 2011 in the Internet Archive)