Thousand Islands Bridge

Thousand Islands International Bridge
A view of the Canadian parts of the bridge system as ON-137 traverses the St Lawrence River across Constance Island and then Georgina Island to reach Ontario mainland. Picture taken looking north from 1000 Islands Tower.
Coordinates	44°20′50.71″N 75°59′0.6″W
Carries	2 lanes of I-81 and Highway 137
Crosses	Saint Lawrence River
Locale	Wellesley Island, New York, United States to Hill Island, Ontario, Canada
Official name	The Thousand Islands Bridge system
Maintained by	Thousand Islands Bridge Authority
Characteristics
Design	suspension, open-spandrel deck arch bridge & truss bridge
Total length	Total: 8.5 mi (13.7 km)
Longest span	American suspension: 800 ft (240 m) Canadian suspension: 750 ft (230 m) Canadian truss: 600 ft (180 m)
Clearance below	U.S.: 150 ft (46 m) Canada: 120 ft (37 m)
History
Construction start	April 30, 1937 (April 30, 1937)
Opened	August 18. 1938 (August 18. 1938)
Statistics
Toll	Varies $3.75–$23.50 (USD) or $4.75–$31.00 (CAD)
Location

The Thousand Islands International Bridge (French: Pont des Mille-îles) is an American-maintained international bridge system over the Saint Lawrence River connecting northern New York in the United States with southeastern Ontario in Canada. Constructed in 1937, with additions in 1959, the bridges span the Canada–US border in the middle of the Thousand Islands region. All bridges in the system carry two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, with pedestrian sidewalks.

Structure

The Thousand Islands International Bridge system is a series of five bridges spanning the St. Lawrence River. From south to north, they are:

1. American mainland to Wellesley Island (main span)
2. Wellesley Island to Hill Island (international crossing)
3. Hill Island to Constance Island
4. Constance Island to Georgina Island
5. Georgina Island to Canadian mainland

The system's southern end connects with Interstate 81 and the northern end with Highway 401 via Highway 137. There is also an interchange with the Thousand Islands Parkway on the Ontario side.

The actual international border bridge crossing is a set of two parallel 90 ft (27 m) bridges between Wellesley Island in the United States and Hill Island in Canada.

Administration

The bridge system is administered by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority, a New York State public benefit corporation, whose seven board members (Four Americans and three Canadians) are appointed by the Jefferson County Board of Legislators. The Authority also maintains and administers Boldt Castle.

Tolls are paid only by cash, E-ZPass, or Commuter Discount Fare Trip Tags, which are prepaid for either 16 trips (US$20.00) or 72 trips (US$32.00). The Bridge Authority is a member of the multi-state E-ZPass consortium, and introduced electronic toll collection in June 2019. No other ETC transponders are currently offered or accepted, although the Bridge Authority offers sales of transponders of Florida's SunPass for the convenience of Canadian travelers en route to Florida.

Border crossing

Main article: Thousand Islands Border Crossing

The Thousand Islands Border Crossing connects the towns of Alexandria Bay, New York and Ivy Lea, Ontario at the Thousand Islands Bridge.

It is the westernmost of the three St. Lawrence River crossings, and is very busy, with up to two-hour waits in the summer. The US border station at Alexandria Bay is sometimes called Thousand Islands. The Canada border station of Lansdowne is sometimes called Gananoque, for the nearby town where international ferry service is provided. These border stations are also responsible for inspecting vessel traffic between the countries. The US has seasonal vessel inspection stations on Heart Island and at Cape Vincent, NY, and Canada has seasonal vessel inspection stations at Rockport, Ontario and Gananoque, Ontario. Both Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) travel to selected ports and marinas on request for inspections.

History

The entire Thousand Islands Bridge system took sixteen months to build, beginning with a ground-breaking on April 30, 1937. Completed ten weeks ahead of schedule, the bridges opened on August 18, 1938, with the ribbon cut by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. Its total cost was $3.05 million (equivalent to $50.81 million in 2023 dollars).

Shortly after opening, the bridge displayed aerodynamic oscillation problems that were quickly corrected via structural upgrades.

In its first year of operation, over 118,000 vehicles crossed the bridge. Today, annual crossings exceed 2,000,000 vehicles.

Gallery

• 
  Toll plaza on the Thousand Islands Bridge
• 
  Thousand Island bridge view from Ivy Lea
• 
  Thousand Islands Bridge
• 
  Thousand Islands Bridge from river
• 
  The international boundary plaque on the bridge
• 
  Portion of ON-137 on Hill Island

See also

• List of bridges in Canada
• List of crossings of the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes
• Boldt Castle (landmark owned by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority)
• Dewolf Point State Park
• Sewells Road Bridge
• Ogdensburg–Prescott International Bridge
• Ambassador Bridge
• Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority

External links

• Thousand Islands Bridge Authority Archived 2004-03-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Aerial photos of the Thousand Island Bridge System
• Ian Coristine's Thousand Islands Canadian Span & Area Gallery
• Tim Kocher's Riverview Photography of Ships Navigating Under the American Span & Gallery
• CBC Digital Archives: Recording of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's address at the opening of the Thousand Islands Bridge