Mid-Hudson Bridge

The Mid-Hudson Bridge (officially the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge) is a toll bridge, which carries highways US 44 and NY 55 across the Hudson River in New York State, connecting Poughkeepsie and Highland. The bridge is generally referred to only as the Mid-Hudson Bridge as opposed to by its full name, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge. Roosevelt was Governor of New York at the time the bridge opened, and the bridge is located near Roosevelt's birthplace in Hyde Park.

Mid-Hudson Bridge

Official name                       Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge

Carries                                3 lanes of US 44 and NY 55

Crosses                               Hudson River

Locale                                 Highland, New York and Poughkeepsie, New York

Design                                Suspension bridge

Longest span                      457.2 meters (1,500 feet)

Total length                        914.4 meters (3,000 feet)

Vertical clearance               41.15 meters (135 feet)

Opening date                      August 25, 1930

The suspension bridge is 3,000 feet (900m) long, and has a clearance of 135 feet (41m) above the Hudson. What makes this bridge unlike most other supension bridges is that the stiffening trusses were intentionally constructed on top of, not below, the deck. An example of unintentionally building the truss above the deck is the Whitestone Bridge about 75 miles (121 km) to the south in The Bronx, NY, after the Whitestone span encountered wind difficulties.

The Mid-Hudson bridge was built by the State of New York Department of Public Works in 1930. When completed, it had the sixth longest suspension bridge span in the world. Ownership of the bridge was transferred to the New York State Bridge Authority in 1933, shortly after the Authority was created. Today, the bridge carries three lanes and a pedestrian/bicycle walkway over the Hudson. The center lane is generally closed, except for rush hour traffic eastbound from 6am to 9am, and westbound from 3pm to 6pm. The center lane is also occasionally opened when work is being done on either side of the bridge. Five lane signals (referred to as "gantries" by NYSBA) with either a green down arrow or a red "X" indicate which lanes are open for travel in a said direction; a yellow "X" indicates that a lane will close. Variable signs at either foot of the bridge are used to indicate lane closures, as both approaches are four lanes wide. This system is similar to that of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge about 20 miles (32 km) to the south. The bridge has a computer-controlled LED decorative lighting system attached to the suspension cables, allowing the bridge to be decorated for Christmas (red, green) or the Fourth of July (red, white, and blue), and for other holidays. In 2008, a caboose that was formerly used as a tourist information center in Milton was placed on display near at the Highland side of the bridge.